The Shinobi of the Sun
by Tachyon99
Summary: Naruto and his sister were the containers of the Kyuubi but he was mistreated and ignored. So he decided to disappear. Years later, rumors of a man knowing his location appear. This man, is Escanor Pride, the strongest man in all of Britannia and he's ready to show everyone why the Sun is his Pride. Escanor!Naruto Naruto X Harem Alive!Kushina
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there everyone!**

**Welcome back!**

**This is the first chapter of my new story (obviously) called, "The Shinobi Blessed by the Sun!" Now, it is another Naruto/Seven Deadly Sins crossover with Naruto being ESCANOR this time! This is also a harem, but this time it is more controlled, so don't worry about that. The current harem will be posted at the end of the chapter in the end notes. And I say current because I may add a few more women, not too many, but maybe like 2 or 3 more and that's it, so if you have a suggestion, let me know.**

**Now, I am very nervous with how this story will turn out, well, I'm nervous about how all my stories turn out, but this one even more since at least with the others, there have been stories done like them. There have been stories of Naruto being Asura from Asura's Wrath, Naruto is Vergil from the Devil May Cry series, and even a couple where Naruto is or becomes Ban. However, there are no stories where Naruto is or becomes Escanor. There is the story, "Child of the Sun," by fairy tail dragon slayer, which is a Naruto/Highschool DxD and while Naruto has power like Escanor, he isn't actually him.**

**Anyways, like I said, this is a Naruto is Escanor story as well as a harem. Now, I believe that is all I have to say concerning this story, so let us get on with the story!**

"We gonna turn it out till it gets too hot." Normal speech

"_Everybody sing, hey-o." Past speech_

"**Tell 'em turn it up till they can't no more." Bijuu/Powerful Being/Demon speech**

'_Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball.' Normal thought_

'_**This is your last warning, a courtesy call.' Bijuu/Powerful Being/Demon thoughts**_

Previous lines are lyrics from the rock song, "Courtesy Call," by Thousand Foot Krutch. I would suggest looking up the song if you haven't heard it before, or looking up the band.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Seven Deadly Sins, those are owned by Masashi Kishimoto and Nakaba Suzuki, respectively.

* * *

**Chapter 1** **Beginning of Pride**

**-Konoha 12 years after Kyuubi attack, night time-**

It was currently close to midnight in the village of **Konohagakure** and everything was silent. People were at home sleeping in their beds, while the village shinobi and kunoichi were either patrolling one of the village gates, or sleeping in their homes. However, there appeared to be one person who wasn't sleeping and we find them moving through the streets and alleyways. The small figure looked around before ducking behind a trash can when they spotted some shinobi patrolling the area before leaving. Once they were gone, the small figure looked before looking both ways and ran to the nearby store.

Upon reaching the door, the figure took out some lock picks before they unlocked the door. They quickly made their way inside before closing the door back up. Finally within the safety of the store, they were suddenly engulfed in a small puff of smoke before it dissipated revealing a young blonde child of eleven or twelve years old. The child, without needing to think, runs through the store, grabbing some sealing scrolls used by shinobi for sealing objects, and begins sealing fruit from apples, melons, oranges (which was also his favorite color), and several others along with vegetables, ramen noodles, fish, and other assortments of food. Once he got the food, the child began sealing several dozen cases of bottled water, before also sealing pots, pans, and cooking utensils.

As he is beginning to leave, he spots a black cloak with an outfit that just screamed, 'WEAR ME!' to the child. It consisted of a burnt orange colored jacket with a hood that had black fur around the hood, cuffs, and hem of the jacket. There were black stripes on the sleeves as well as a pair of black pants and sandals. Quickly swiping the outfit, he changes into it, before donning the black cloak around himself. With his excursion complete, he leaves into the night, disappearing from the village without a sound.

**-1 Month Later-**

It was eerily calm on this day in the village, but if one were to pay close attention, they would realize everyone seemed to not be in the happiest of moods. People who were smiling were clearly faking it as could be seen, while everyone seemed to just not be as full of life. Then, in a small residence near the summit of the villages National Monument called the Hokage Monument, a red-haired woman could be found, seething in rage at a blonde-haired man who looked eerily similar to the child who left. These were the **Yondaime Hokage**, Minato Namikaze and his wife, Kushina Uzumaki.

"Dammit Minato, this is your son!" Kushina yelled out in anger and frustration as tears were streaming down her face, "If it was Mito, you'd be tearing the village apart to find her in a heartbeat, but since it's Naruto, you could care less if he was found in Iwa by Oonoki!"

Minato merely scowled and said, "Now listen closely Kushina, I love Naruto as much as I do Mito, but I can't show more affection for one missing child." Kushina glared at him to the point that it looked like she was trying to kill him with just her glare alone. Minato then said, "The needs of the many outweigh the few."

"You bastard." Kushina growled out in anger and sorrow, "This is our son, our flesh and blood Minato or did you forget?" she questioned, "And besides, he has the Nine Tails's Chakra sealed inside his body, do you know how many people would love to get their hands on something that powerful? He might not be a full-fledged Jinchuuriki like Mito is, but he can still call on the chakra of the beast inside." she said.

Minato shook his head, "I'm sorry Kushina... but there is nothing I can do." he told her as he vanished in a yellow flash.

Kushina glowered at where her husband once stood, "No, you're right. There is nothing you can do. Because we're done." she told herself.

It was a considerably good thing her daughter was at the academy at the moment because if she were home she would be upset beyond words. As Naruto's twin sister, they shared a close bond, and seeing as Mito wasn't crying in distress, he was alright. She sighed deeply, "Naruto... wherever you are, I hope your alright." she told herself, before she left in order to go get some papers filled out and signed by her no good, soon-to-be ex-husband.

**-Meanwhile-**

In an underground tavern built into a mountain, a man of 25 could be found wearing a simple pair of glasses with a manly mustache staring at a wall in silence. He was wearing what appeared to be a bartender's outfit with a baggy, white, button-up shirt, green vest and red bow tie. He was also wearing a pair of green pants and brown shoes. On the wall he was staring at, was what appeared to be a single-handed battle axe that looked to be made of gold. He sighed before turning back around and drying some glass cups as he remembered the events that took place which led to his current predicament from seven years ago.

He didn't like how he and the other's were framed for killing Grand Holy Knight Zaratras to the point where they had to flee, but he accepted it as yet another day in his life. He then sighed to himself, before looking out the window at the night sky and said, "I wonder how mom and Mito are after all these years."

He then shook his head before continuing to dry the dishes and placing them back where they belong. He then began to think back to how he got to where he was now.

**-Flashback-**

A currently thirteen-year-old Naruto can be found walking across the country of Brittania after paying a boatman for the trip and waiting almost six months. He was currently wearing a loose, white shirt and baggy black pants with brown shoes and a bag thrown over his shoulder. He was just walking along the road when he noticed a pair of cloaked people walking in the direction he had just come from. He saw both of their bags containing their money, and then looked at his little bag and figured they wouldn't mind if they have that much money. So, keeping his pace, he subtly cut their bags of money, quickly collected a few coins and kept walking, thinking he got away with it, until he sensed an attack heading his way, and dodged. He looked to see what had attacked him, and saw what looked to be a strange, small orb.

He looked up, and came face-to-face with a sword that, judging by the arm holding the sword, is a man the other person began to move over towards him, and just as he was about to perform a kawarimi, a breeze of wind blew the hood of the one in front of him off just enough for him to see a pair of gold eyes. He then heard the person say, "Time shift," with a voice that clearly proved this was a woman. Then there was a bright flash of light, and everything was gone.

The woman looked to her fellow traveler and nodded her head, "It is done, Lion Sin of Pride has been found." she said to the man.

"Well, he might not be the one we were originally after, but his heart is in the right place." he responded before he chuckled, "If you could look past the sheer amount of pride he has around him he'd certainly make one hell of a Holy Knight." he stated.

The woman nodded her head, "Indeed, now all we have to do is wait and he will reappear to bring an end to this as well as his own lands' chaos." she responded as they suddenly grew a pair of wings and vanished in flashes of light.

**-25 years prior-**

Naruto felt himself hit the ground with a thud before getting to his feet. Looking around he saw he was still in the same place so he didn't know what happened. Was it some type of Genjutsu. He looked around and saw that there was nobody around however it was then he began to notice his body was changing, he was getting smaller and smaller-WAIT! He wasn't getting shrunk like he thought he was, he was getting younger.

Ten minutes later, all that was in the spot where Naruto Uzumaki once stood was a baby with golden orange hair with blue eyes crying in a bundle of clothes. The babe would soon be found by a grieving couple of royal blood who had lost their newborn son Escanor Pride not even a week ago. However upon seeing the baby they gasped in shock before they picked up the baby, "Micheal, do you see the baby's parents?" she asked as she looked around.

Micheal shook his head, "It appears he's been here for several hours on his own. His parents must not have been able to care for him." he said as he looked at the baby, "He sure does remind me of Escanor..." he said softly.

The queen felt her eyes widen as an idea came upon her, "Micheal, what if this was a sign, a sign that he was meant to be with us. Our first child has already begun to learn how to lead the country, so we could just take him in as our own. We could pass him off as our little Escanor, we never did tell Bartra our child died nor Simon that Escanor is actually dead." she said hopefully.

Micheal smiled softly, "It wouldn't hurt, and if he chooses to serve Bartra like we agreed for our Escanor to, then we will happily support his decision to do so." he said as he gently rubbed his new sons head, "Welcome to the family, our little Escanor." he said happily.

**-Present-**

Escanor shook his head, before muttering, Man, if only Ma and Pa could see me now. I wonder what they would say… tch, knowing Ma, she'd nag my head off going, 'Escanor, you idiot! I told you to watch what you did, but did you listen to your mother, no~. You had to go and do something as stupid as kill the Gand Holy Knight, Zaratras.'" Escanor then chuckled and said, "Yeah… I am not looking forward to that one."

He then drank swallowed some of his high quality Bernia Ale. It was actually one of his twelve bottles of 300-year-old Bernia Ale that he had bought for himself and his friends from their order of knight known as the, "Seven Deadly Sins."

Too bad he wouldn't be able to share it with them for years to come.

* * *

**-Present time, Konoha-**

It had been nearly six months since Naruto up and vanished from Konoha. Minato had been secretly sending out Anbu search teams to see if they could find his son, but unfortunately, not only did they not find hide nor hair of his son. Due to him keeping this a secret, his wife had divorced him and even stated that keeping it a secret from her was stupid as she wouldn't have told anyone. He had tried to mend the bonds between them, but it just wasn't happening. It didn't help that Kushina and Mito moved out to live with her friend, Tsume Inuzuka, who was head of the Inuzuka clan.

However, he recently heard a rumor of a man in Britannia by the name of Escanor Pride who had actually met his son, even if only in passing, before parting ways. If these rumors were true, then he would need to find this Escanor before someone else did. He was broken from his thoughts at the sound of someone knocking on his office door, to which he gave the work for them to enter.

The blonde leader watched as a group of his ninja entered, including his ex-wife and the twin sister of his missing son. These women consisted of Tsunade Senju, Mito Uzumaki, Kushina Uzumaki, Kushina's friend, Mikoto Uchiha and her sister, Madami Uchiha*****, his former teammate Hitomi Uchiha*****, and his former Anbu protector, Hisui Hyuuga, genin Tenten Higurashi, who was in Naruto's class, Anko Mitarashi, Naruto's notorious prankster friend, Hana Inuzuka, Tsume's daughter and a friend who used to watch Naruto as a kid, and finally, Shizune Kato, who was Tsunade's apprentice.

Now, Tsunade normally wouldn't have stepped foot in Konoha, but unfortunately, she didn't have much choice in the matter. Minato had sent her a message saying how, if she did not return to Konoha, then she, along with her apprentice, Shizune, would be labeled as rogues, as well as how it was her duty to be there for Kushina and Mito, since she was Mito's godmother. So, with no other choice, the buxom blonde returned home with her apprentice.

Tsunade sighed as she looked at her Kage and asked, "Alright Minato, why are we here? I'm sure it has to do with the rumors of the other continent, right?" With the other women nodding their heads, as they also wanted to know what they were doing there.

Minato nodded and spoke as he reached into his desk, "As per our agreement with the land of Britannia, we give up information on rogue ninja in the Elemental Nations," Minato then pulled out some fliers, "They do the same with their warriors turned criminal. It recently came across my desk that a group of seven of their most deadly warriors have gone rogue after killing their GrandMaster several years ago. It's actually quite humorous that they are called, 'The Seven Deadly Sins.'" He then spread the fliers out to show they were in fact, wanted posters, revealing six of the seven. "There is also a rumor that one of them knows the location of Naruto, but keeps it to himself." Minato finished, as the women felt their eyes widen in shock.

"Nii-san is in Britannia?" Mito asked her father, who nodded his head.

"Not only that, but according to the rumor, the one who knows his location, is said to be the most powerful warrior to have lived in nearly six centuries, as none can match his strength. Assuming this rumor to be true, he might be on par with some of us Kage, possibly even Tsunade's granduncle." Minato said.

What they didn't know however, was that Escanor had surpassed even Tsunade's own Grandfather by nearly twice as much power alone when he fought.

The women themselves gulped a bit in fear. Tobirama Senju was a High Kage level ninja and was the third most powerful warrior in his time period after Madara Uchiha and Tsunade's grandfather, Hashirama Senju. If these rumors were true, then they would need to be extremely cautious. Shizune stepped forward and said, "If that is true, then we will need to approach with caution if we ever find him."

Minato nodded and said, "Indeed, that is why I am sending all of you to Britannia to track down Escanor and see if you can indeed confirm, that he is knowledgeable of Naruto's location." Minato then places down Escanor's wanted poster, and says, "This is the man you are looking for, his name is Escanor Pride. Now, I want you all to find him and try to see if he really knows the location of Naruto. I don't care what tactics or methods you have to use, just make sure you don't get yourselves killed, you come back in one piece, and you come back with Naruto. Is that understood?"

All the women then replied in unison, "Yes, Hokage-sama!"

And with that, the group of women began to leave in order to prepare for the journey ahead of them, as they didn't know what they should expect. Little did they know, the journey they were about to embark on, would keep them away from Konoha and the Elemental Nations, for quite a number of years.

* * *

**-Timeskip 3 Years-**

The wonderful country of Britannia, so full of life and wonder that is very different from the war-torn lands of the Elemental Nations. Along with having different creatures, they have different abilities and military. Instead chakra like the Elemental Nations uses, the people of Britannia use mana, which allows them to use magic. Instead of having shinobi and kunoichi, the lands of Britannia use soldiers called knights, with an elite class called, "Holy Knights."

It had been ten years since the group known as the "Seven Deadly Sins," betrayed the Kingdom of Liones and killed the Great Holy Knight, Zaratras, before suddenly disappearing. No one has seen, or heard anything about any of the seven and peace had been present for most of the ten years. However recently, many disturbances have been occurring due to a new threat that is coming to Britannia.

These new threats are going to be the catalyst that causes a change in the entirety of the land of Britannia. However, if you want to stop these threats, you would need the strongest, most ruthless people in all of Britannia.

You would need the Seven Deadly Sins.

* * *

**-Random Hill near Random Village-**

We currently find ourselves overlooking what appears to be a tavern on the hilltop near a village. However, there was suddenly the sound of armor clanking as it seemed to be moving. The armor from which the sound is coming from is a set of extra large armor that appears to have rusted some as well, meaning movement would have been quite strenuous. As they continued moving, we see that their path was headed straight for the tavern, where a sign could be seen, showing the name of the tavern was called, **The Boar Hat.**

"The… Seven...:" came a muffled voice from the suit of armor, "Must… find… the… Seven…"

* * *

**-Meanwhile, Inside the Boar Hat-**

Inside the tavern, people were having a good time, as they were able to drink a various spread of alcohol ranging from some finely aged Bernia Ale to even some Sake from the Elemental Nations, which recently opened up to trading. People were having a good time, as they loved the rich taste of Sake, but we're getting off point. Focusing on a specific table, we find ourselves a familiar group of women.

"So, anyone find anything?"

This question came from a red-headed woman, thought the more correct term would be crimson-haired woman. She had violet eyes, her hair in a ponytail and wore a black, short-sleeved shirt with a red hooded jacket vest that had white fur lining the hood and black, form-fitting pants with black shinobi sandals. Strapped to her hip, was a sword, or more specifically, a katana with the sheath being solid black with the design of a red Chinese dragon. This was Kushina Uzumaki, mother of Mito Uzumaki, and ex-wife of Minato Namikaze. Currently, Kushina was talking to the rest of the kunoichi who she had come to Britannia with, in search of her missing son, Naruto.

The kunoichi looked at each other, before one decided to reply with, "Sorry Kushina, but we haven't heard anything about any of the sins, let alone about the specific one we're looking for."

The one who replied was a girl who had grey eyes with black hair that was styled into two buns, giving her a sort of panda look, with a few short-fringe bangs framing her face. She was wearing a white, high-collared blouse, with long-sleeves and maroon edges with a pair of maroon, puffy hakama-style pants, with bandages wrapped around the exposed part. She was also wearing a pair of black, fingerless gloves and low-heeled sandals with her black forehead protector wrapped around, well, her forehead. This was Tenten Higurashi, she was currently seventeen years old and was the former classmate of Naruto.

During their time in the academy, the two had been very good friends because she didn't treat him badly like a good portion of the other students. As the two had spent time together, Tenten began to wonder why she would help defend Naruto from the other students. As they grew up together, she slowly began to realize that she was falling in love with him. She remembered how when they were nine years old, she was made fun of for her hairstyle by others calling her a panda.

However, Naruto was the one who would stick up for her and would fight off the bullies. He would then tell her that she shouldn't listen to them, because, while her hairstyle did resemble panda ears, it just made her that much cuter. She remembered how she would always blush at that, and how he seemed to have this warmth around him during the day, that just seemed so relaxing. That was probably when she started getting feelings for Naruto, but she was still too young at the time to realize it. However, girls mature faster than guys, so by the time they were eleven, she started showing signs and hadn't realized until shortly before he disappeared, that she loved him.

She had been ready to let him know her feelings, but when she had finally worked up the courage to let him know her feelings, he had disappeared. Tenten had felt like her whole world had shattered in that instance, as he had been there for as long as she had known him. It was indescribable how much pain and sadness she felt when he had disappeared. That was why, when she heard from her Hokage that someone knew of his location, she had been ecstatic to be a part of the group who were searching for him. However, she was sad that they hadn't found anything about Naruto or of this, Escanor Pride, they were looking for.

"Yeah, we've been searching everywhere, from libraries to bars, but nobody has anything about Escanor or Naruto." _Sigh_ "I just can't believe we've been looking for almost three years and haven't even heard of a rumor."

These were said by a pair of women who looked exactly alike with black hair and onyx eyes. One was wearing a tight, black, short-sleeved shirt that showed off her E-cup breasts underneath her green flak jacket and a pair of black fingerless gloves. She was also wearing a pair of gray Anbu pants with low-heeled sandals and a ninja pouch wrapped behind right hip. The other lady was wearing a light-gray, no sleeve kimono blouse that hugged her DD-cup bust quite nicely. She was also wearing a pair of black stretch pants that hugged her luscious thighs, and tight, heart-shaped ass and a pair of gray, low-heeled sandals. They both also had black bo staves on their backs.

These were Mikoto Uchiha and her younger sister, Madami Uchiha, two of the last few Uchiha in the world. They were friends of Kushina, and when they heard how her son had disappeared, they were instantly there for her. Mikoto couldn't imagine if one of her children had just suddenly disappeared, and while Madami couldn't understand since she didn't have any children of her own, she knew that she would be devastated if her sister had ever disappeared.

"Don't worry Kushina, if we keep searching, we're bound to find something about either one of them."

This came from a gorgeous and buxom blonde with brown eyes and her hair styled into two ponytails with a few bangs framing her face. She had an I-cup bust which was clearly straining against her sleeveless, grey kimono blouse that showed off her cleavage and was held closed by a dark blue-ish grey obi that also matched her pants. She was also wearing a pair black, strap sandals with high heels with a green haori that had a red circle with the kanji for gamble _(__賭__, kake) _in the middle with a necklace that seemed to have a green gem on a leather cord. She also wore red nail polish on her fingernails and toenails with soft pink lipstick.

Next to her was a woman with straight, shoulder-length, jet-black hair and onyx eyes. She was wearing a bluish-black kimono with white trimmings held close by a white obi, though the whole thing strained against her G-cup bust. She wore open toed, low-heeled sandals as well as what appeared to be a mesh clothing underneath her kimono. Something to note about her, was the pig that she was carrying in her arms that was wearing a pearl necklace and dark red jacket.

These three were Tsunade Senju, last of the Senju clan, Shizune Kato, Tsunade's apprentice and niece of Tsunade's former lover, and finally, Tonton the pig.

Tsunade was the godmother of Mito and Naruto, though she hadn't been there for either of them when they were growing up. The reason being because she didn't want anything to do with the village, due to her past. You see, Tsunade had lost both, her former lover, and her younger brother to war, and both had wanted to become Hokage of the village. After their deaths, Tsunade gained a fear of blood, as well as grew a type of hatred for Konoha.

It was due to this hatred that Tsunade never went back to Konoha, but it also because of her not being there, that she couldn't help Kushina take care of Naruto or Mito. When Tsunade finally came back, the first thing she wanted to do was check on Kushina and the kids, however when she got there, she had finally realized the other reason she was called back. She had never seen Kushina look as heartbroken as did, and Tsunade couldn't help but feel guilty, because had she been there, she could have helped Kushina take care of Mito and Naruto. Tsunade probably would have gotten worse with her drinking if it hadn't been for Shizune reminding her that drinking wouldn't help anybody and would only hurt herself.

Tsunade had never been more grateful to Shizune than at that point in time, because if it hadn't been for Shizune, Tsunade would have become nothing more than a useless, drunken mess who was full of guilt. Nowadays, Tsunade still loved to drink, but she now knew when it was okay to drink, and was in better control of herself. Especially after Shizune, after Kami knows how many years, explained how Tsunade could end up doing things or get taken advantage of when she gets drunk. Tsunade realized that all the years of Shizune telling her to slow down on the drinking or to drink less wasn't because Shizune didn't want her to enjoy herself, it was because she was worried for her.

_Sigh_ "I hope we find onii-chan someday."

The one who said this looked to be a carbon copy of Kushina. She had the same crimson hair and violet eyes as Kushina, though her hair was left straight with two small braids framing her face. She wore white, long-sleeved kimono blouse with crimson trimmings, held close by a crimson red obi, showing off her high D-cup breasts. She also wore black, hakama-style pants with black, low-heeled sandals with a ninja pouch behind her right hip while she also had a katana strapped to her left hip. The sheath was blood red in color and had the design of a tree with roots growing out on it in black. This was sixteen-year-old, Mito Uzumaki, younger sister of Naruto Uzumaki, daughter to Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, as well as **Jinchuuriki** of the **Kyuubi no Yoko.**

The day she had come back from the academy, she had been devastated to learn that her brother had disappeared. She and her brother had always been close to each other to the point that they would know if one was hurt, in danger, or even sad. Their mother had always teased her about wanting to be closer than a normal brother and sister, but Mito would always begin vehemently denying it, though the bright blush on her face never helped. Mito couldn't help that she loved her brother more than a sister should, but she just felt drawn to him.

When they were growing up, she would always cling to him and absolutely loved the warmth he exuded. He always made her feel so safe, and whenever people would begin glaring at her, he would always be there to chase them off, or if an adult got cocky and tried to attack her, he was always to protect her. He never allowed her to get hurt, and whenever someone would come and try to hurt her, he would overpower them before throwing them away. Literally. Her onii-chan would pick them up, and throw them in the trash.

She could always count on him to be there for her, whether it was when she had nightmares, or when people were mean to her. That was also why, when her brother disappeared, it had been so devastating, because she had believed that he left due to not wanting to protect her anymore or believing she was a burden. It was only thanks to her mother and her brother's classmate, Tenten, who later became her friend as well, confirming that he loved her dearly and protected her because he never wanted to see her hurt.

Mito can honestly say that she had never cried as much, or as hard, as she did at that point in time. Not even when she first heard about her brother disappearing did she cry as much as hearing that he loved her so much. After that, Mito had decided to work her ass off in training in order to be strong enough so that she could earn the right to leave the village and find her brother. However, when she heard about how there was someone who knew where her brother is, she was happy and scared.

Happy, because she would finally get to reunite with her brother after being separated. Scared because she didn't know if her brother was still alive and she was afraid if the reason he left was because he saw her as a burden. However, she trusted her mother and Tenten, so she knew there was nothing to worry about and that it was just her fear getting to her.

"Don't worry Mito, we'll find him someday. Besides, this also gave us the opportunity to train and learn more." One voice said, before another began, "Yeah! We also got the chance to get some pretty interesting stuff."

The first voice came from another of the women in the group. She had long brown hair that was in a ponytail with two strands framing her face and black eyes. She also had a pair of red fang tattoos on her cheeks as well as a flower tattoo on her upper right arm. She wore a grey brace on her left wrist and bracelets along with bandages on her right wrist. She wore a form-fitting, green flak jacket that hugged her DDD-cup breasts, which also didn't have any pockets and was unzipped to show off some of her cleavage. She was wearing a pair of grey, form-fitting shorts that ended just above her knee and black, low-heeled sandals.

The second voice came from a woman with short, purple hair and light brown, pupil-less eyes. She was wearing a form-fitting mesh bodysuit that hugged against her E-cup bust, also showing that she wore no bra and went from her neck to her thighs. Over that, she wore a tan overcoat with a purple seems, a dark orange mini skirt with a dark blue belt and pale grey shin guards that connected with her black sandals. She wore her black forehead protector, a necklace with a snake fang and a wristwatch.

These were Hana Inuzuka and Anko Mitarashi, friends of Naruto's. Hana was the daughter of a clan head, and because of that, a lot of people treated her like she as glass. And she **HATED** it. She wasn't some fragile doll, or a glass cup. She was a kunoichi, one who worked her way up to the top and trained hard to get where she was. It was getting to the point that she felt like she was suffocating, she was just glad her mother and clan didn't treat her any different.

Hana had been feeling especially stressed the day she met Naruto, and she had thought he was going to treat her the same as everyone else, but to her pleasant surprise, he just treated her like everyone else. Of course, he was just a kid as she would babysit him and his sister, but he still didn't seem to care about who she was. He was a breath of fresh air to her as he didn't treat her any different and she didn't mind. It felt good to have a friend who wanted to hang out with her for who she was, and not for being a clan heir.

She had even introduced Anko, her friend and old classmate from her academy days, to Naruto and the two hit it off. It then became the three of them hanging out and having fun, though it eventually became her babysitting both of them, since they somehow got into pranking together. She knew about Naruto's pranks, I mean who didn't, but when his expertise became combined with her experience as a shinobi, they made a deadly team.

Even Anko had taken a liking to the, "little gaki _(brat)_," as she liked to call him. The two of them would often be found getting scolded by other shinobi or even the Hokage, depending on who caught in the act. If they were caught at all.

It was this friendship and the closeness that the three felt, that made the two of them glad they were partaking in the search for Naruto. They missed their friend, and Anko especially missed her pranking buddy, as they would have more fun together than when she was hanging out with her friends, Hana, Yugao, and Kurenai.

The group kept talking when they were suddenly interrupted by drinks getting placed on their table. They turned to look who it was, and they saw what appeared to be a little boy with messy, blonde hair and green eyes wearing a white, button-up shirt, sleeveless, black vest. He was also wearing white pants that stopped at his knees, a loosely-worn, black tie, and black shoes with no socks. On his back, was a brown scabbard for a sword and the sword handle was in the shape of a green dragon with a ruby for the eye.

"Here you go ladies. You look like you could use them."

They all grabbed the cups before taking a sip and they all liked the taste, except for Mito who had her drink taken from her by Tsunade. Mito pouted at Tsunade who only gave her a knowing look before nodding her head towards Kushina, Mito now understood why she still wasn't allowed to drink, despite being considered an adult. With a pout, Mito just unsealed a bottle of water and drank from that.

Kushina turned towards the boy and said, "Thank you, young man, but aren't you a little young to be working as a waiter?"

The boy turned and said, "Oh, you 've got it wrong. I'm not a waiter, I'm the owner, and my name's Meliodas."

The group were shocked to see that someone so young was the owner of a tavern, but they couldn't really say much about it, considering they've each seen weirder. The group were about to continue talking until the door was slammed open by a guy who looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"I-I saw i-it."

This got everyone to quiet down and listen as the man sat down and began to tell everyone about the, "Rust Knight." This got reactions of people saying that they were just stories that parents used to tell their children to behave or else the Seven Deadly Sins would come and get you in blood rusted armor. **(A.N. Basically the part in the anime when they are all talking.)**

Suddenly, everyone began to hear a loud, metallic thumping sound coming from outside the door to the tavern. Everyone began watching as suddenly the door opened up to reveal a large figure wearing rusted armor walking in, before saying, "The… Seven…"

This got all of the men to run out of the bar, leaving only the curious, young bar owner, and the group of women, who all looked surprised to find the person they were searching for suddenly do the exact opposite of what Anko had said earlier.

"Hello, would you like something to drink?" asked the young bar owner, getting looks from the kunoichi like he'd grown a second head.

"The… Seven… Deadly… Sins…" the knight muttered one more time before falling backwards to the floor, where the helmet fell off revealing the face of a girl with silver hair covering her right eye and an earring hanging from her left ear that had a blue gem with the designs of a sun and moon with stars in it.

Later on, we find the group in a room, with the young girl laying on a bed and the rusted armor lying in a corner. The young girl was wearing a black, skin tight jumpsuit with black leggings that extend from her mid-thighs to just before her toes with matching black wraps on her arms covering from her wrists to just before her shoulders. The group, young bar owner and Hawk had all been surprised, except the bar owner, at seeing such a young girl wearing all of that armor. While they were initially surprised, the group then became protective when they saw the young bar owner try to grope her chest with the excuse of, "making sure she was okay and alive." This got him thrown out of the room by the group of women before they asked Hawk to get a basin of cold water and a towel.

Currently, the girl was resting on the bed, with a towel that was soaked in cold water on her forehead, sleeping peacefully, while the women were talking about the girl.

"So, any ideas on why she would be walking around in such a big suit of armor in this heat, clearly for a long time, if the heat stroke she is suffering from says anything." asked Tenten, knowing from her background as a co-owner of a weapons shop that metal armor will build up heat from being in the sun and when it's hot.

"No idea, but we could ask her when she wakes up." offered Mito which got the group nodding in agreement, '_And maybe she knows something about the Seven Deadly Sins from what she was saying.' _Mito mentally added, figuring that the girl must know something.

"_**That is very true, and she also seems to have some strange energy coming from her but I cannot tell what it is."**_

Mito didn't react to the voice in her head because she knew that it was Kurami talking to her from inside the seal, for you see, when Mito was training when she was younger, she used too much chakra at one point and knocked herself out, where she eventually found herself coming face to face with Kurami, who explained that she didn't want to attack Konoha because she actually liked Konoha, if only because it was Mito and Kushina's home, and that she had been forced by an Uchiha who called himself Madara. This had shocked Mito, but she decided to trust Kurami and told her mom when she woke up, where they decided to look at the seal and rewrite it so that Kurami could have a body outside but her power would stay inside the seal and be regulated by Mito, so that she wouldn't die because she was not strong enough to survive having a bijuu removed from her seal like her mother was.

'_Okay, I'll keep an eye on her just incase she turns out to be dangerous.' replied Mito._

"_**Okay kit." informed Kurami.**_

Mito then snapped out of it when she and the rest heard the girl began to stir. She opened her visible eye to show a dazzling blue eye before she looked around curious about her surroundings and was surprised to see the group all either standing or sitting around her.

The girl gained a slight flustered look and stuttered, "H-Hello, there." while waving her hand.

"Hello, it's good to see that your up and feeling better. You gave us quite a scare there when we saw you passed out from heat stroke." informed Hana, having some medical experience even though it was mostly towards animals.

The girl looked even more flustered at that, "Sorry about that." she apologized while bowing her head.

The group just giggled or chuckled at her antics and told her it was fine and that she didn't have to bow. They soon found out her name is Elizabeth. They then began to talk about what she was doing, wandering around in such big armor in this heat, and she informed them that she was looking for the Seven Deadly Sins. The group and Hawk were all surprised at hearing that answer. Before they could continue however, there was a loud noise from outside in the main part of the tavern where they heard a bunch of knights saying they serve under some, "Lord Twigo," in search of the Rust Knight who had been spotted in the area. The group came out of the room, after telling Elizabeth to stay put, and were prepared to defend the girl when they heard the bar owner says that he knew where the rust knight was and then Hawk exclaimed he was the rust knight when he came out with random pieces of the rusted armor that Elizabeth had been wearing strapped to his body.

Before anyone could do anything, a knight outside began shouting about a woman running into the forest. The knights gave chase to Elizabeth, saying they just had to tire her out before Lord Twgo arrived.

As the knights were chasing Elizabeth, they were being attacked by the group and Hawk. This caused the knights to focus on the group and not notice Elizabeth being picked up by two people into a tree, before the last knight ran off the cliff.

In the tree, were Elizabeth, Meliodas, and Mito looking down as the knights fell.

"So, how does the rest of that story go?/Why are you looking for the sins?" asked Meliodas and Mito at the same time, just as the rest of the group began appearing.

Elizabeth began explaining that she was looking for the Seven Deadly Sins, in order to stop the Holy Knights. As she was explaining all of the horrible things that the knights did, they were unaware of another presence approaching them. Meliodas began saying how it might not be possible to find the sins because of some rumors that they all died, when Elizabeth exclaimed that they were too amazing in order to die so easily. The group looked at her in surprise when suddenly the ground began shaking.

It turned out that the cliff had been sliced clean through and was falling to the ground. Standing on the area where the cliff was sliced, stood a knight with a thick mustache and dark red armor.

The knight looked down and said, "Confirmed! Thirteen unknown people, dead!"

He then looked behind himself, "Is that alright?" He was asking the four knights that were standing behind him.

"B-But Mr. Alioni was beneath the cliff." said one of the knights.

"Then we can say fourteen dead."

The knights were shocked at how calmly this knight said that and said, "B-But! Lord Twigo, that's horrible!"

The now named Twigo turned them and asked, "Then, eighteen dead?"

"Anything but that!" the knights shouted in fear.

The five knights then heard several sighs of relief and turned to see the group of women with a redheaded teenage girl carrying Elizabeth and Meliodas carrying Hawk and Mr. Alioni.

The four knights shouted in surprise and relief, "Mr. Alioni!"

Twigo however, "What are you all doing alive?! Don't change my confirmed death toll!"

The entire group minus Elizabeth and Mr. Alioni all shouted or calmly said, "Don't confirm it on your own./!"

As the group, was checking on each other, Twigo saw Elizabeth's earring. "Well, it seems I'm in luck! That symbol is of the royal family. Which means you are, confirmed! Princess Elizabeth!" he exclaimed getting shocked looks from the group except for Meliodas.

"Princess Elizabeth? As in the princess of the kingdom?!" the group and Hawk shouted I surprise, while Meliodas just looked curious.

Twigo then said, "There is a search order for you throughout the kingdom. You won't run, will you? The order is for your capture… but nothing can be done if you were killed in an accident."

The group began running into the forest, with Elizabeth shouting, how she can't be captured and that she won't give up.

Twigo then swung his sword in there direction while shouting, "Confirmed! Accidental death!"

Once he swung, he caused the entire forest to be cut down, but everyone was okay except for some scratches and dust with Hawk being the worst with a stick being stabbed into his rump and Meliodas having his left sleeve blown off.

Elizabeth was lying on the ground crying about how she was being saved by a group she didn't know and a man whose name she didn't know. Meliodas than smiled and told Elizabeth, that his name was Meliodas, causing her to be surprised and she along with the rest of the group, all finally noticed the symbol on his arm.

"A-a dragon?" Elizabeth stuttered in shock, with the others being surprised as well.

As she was saying this, Twigo came up to them and swung his sword down on them, causing a huge cloud of dust to appear. Twigo stood there thinking this time he got the group, when suddenly he was hit with a blow of strength, blowing him back. He looked up and everyone was surprised to see Meliodas wielding his broken sword in his left hand.

Twigo grew angry at this and began shouting, "You!? You plan on fighting me with that trash!?"

"Trash is just fine." answered Meliodas.

Elizabeth then began asking, "Are you really that Meliodas?"

Twigo was shocked hearing this, "Meliodas?! W...Wait, I remember seeing your face before…! No… If that's the case then why do you not look any different from before…!?"

Meliodas then stood with his sword ready as if to swing from right to left with his knees bent, "Have you figured out… Who I am?"

Twigo got a look of fear and began shouting, "It… It can't be! Truly, you are…" Twigo then swung with all his strength shouting, "YOU AAAAAAAREEE!"

Meliodas then swung his sword out and introduced himself, "Seven Deadly Sins- The Dragon's Sin: Meliodas!"

Twigo was then hit with all of the power that he used when he swung sending him flying. The group and Elizabeth all looked at Meliodas in shock as Meliodas just calmly watched Twigo go flying as he said, "Ohh! He sure went up high!"

He then resheathed the broken sword, turned to Elizabeth and said, "Well, looks like you found the first one… Elizabeth! About the remaining six, I've actually got business with them too, so I've been searching for them as well as of late. I've been using the bar in order to find information about them. If I had a serving girl, then I'd be able to get more customers and more information. You'll come with me… right?"

Elizabeth looked shocked at the offer and smile brightly while exclaiming, "Yes!"

"Actually," a voice said, this earned the attention of Meliodas and Elizabeth who both turned to see the women standing looking at Meliodas with serious looks, "we will be coming along as well."

Meliodas and Elizabeth both grew confused, "Why?" asked Meliodas.

Then Mito stepped forward and said, "Because we have been looking for the sins, in order to see if they would help us find someone."

Elizabeth then decided to ask, "Who are you looking for?"

Kushina answered this time, "We're looking for my son."

"Why would we be able to help you?" asked Meliodas with a curious yet serious face.

"Because we received information that the Man known as, Escanor Pride, knows the last known location of my son, Naruto." replied Kushina.

This caused Meliodas to go wide-eyed as he then answered, "I know that name."

Everyone looked at him in surprise, "You know Naruto!?" asked the group of kunoichi.

Meliodas nodded his head, "Yeah, Escanor used to talk about the boy who earned his respect all the time. He told us stories that he said were told to him by Naruto."

The group grew extremely happy, knowing that they now had a solid lead, "So can we come with you?" asked Tenten.

Meliodas just smiled and nodded his head saying, "Sure, I think it'll be fun and amazing to help you guys out."

Suddenly, a giant green pig appeared and everyone noticed the Boar Hat on its' back along with Hawk, who had ran away earlier.

"Nice timing Hawk's mom!" exclaimed Meliodas, and then he and everyone else climbed on Hawk's mom. With this everyone looked forward, all of them ready to continue their journey, Elizabeth and Meliodas to find the other seven sins and the group of kunoichi to look for Naruto but decided to help Elizabeth along the way. None of them knew what was in store for them but they all knew one thing; no matter what happens on this journey, it was going to be one _HELL_ of an adventure.

**-Meanwhile, Undisclosed Location-**

In an undisclosed location, one Escanor Pride sat at his hidden bar waiting for an eventual customer when he heard the door to the 'My Sweet Gluttony' slowly opened to reveal a familiar face to him, "Ah, Hedrickson-san it's so good to see you after all this time." he said happily as he adjusted his magic glasses that suppressed his powers to the bare minimum. It had been a couple of years since he had laid his eyes on his old friend.

"Escanor, I see you haven't picked up hardly any customers even after all this time." the silver haired man joked with a smile as Escanor grasped the man's forearm with his hand as the man did the same, both wearing smiles on their faces.

"Yeah, it's hard to be a barkeep when hardly anybody knows the location of the bar." he said getting a laugh from Hendrickson.

"I hear ya on that one my old friend." he said as he sat down with a tired groan where he rubbed his aching knees, "Man, either I'm getting old, or the travel to your bar is just that long." he said with a chuckle as Escanor nodded in agreement.

"Now you know how I feel when I have to make deliveries to places like Vaizel and Bernia, Hendrickson." Escanor said with a calm look as he poured the man a mug of his finest ale.

Hendrickson sighed nostalgically, "Yeah, seems as if the old days were just yesterday." he said with a small smile, "Princesses Margaret and Veronica followed after you like lost puppies trying to catch you training with the boys and Elizabeth following after Meliodas and Zaratras to play with her. And then the bullshit that happened with my brother went down and now here we are, ten years later with nothing to show for it." he said as he chugged the alcohol down.

Escanor nodded in agreement, "Yeah, seems so long ago when in truth it was just ten years ago. I can't even go back to my parents because of the treaty between Britannia and my old home." he said as he placed the bottle back on the shelf before he sat beside the man with his own mug, "To the good ol days, where all we had to worry about was Meliodas perving on the women's bathhouses with the others before he convinced us to join him and we got our asses kicked royally." he said with a small grin where the two smashed their mugs together.

"To the good old days, and may they once again come back to us." he said as they chugged the booze down, setting their mugs down with content sighs Hendrickson and Escanor wiped their mouths clean before they stood, "So, I already know that you never see me without a reason behind my visits, so I'm just gonna explain to you what's going on." he said as Escanor nodded his head to say he could go on, "As you already know, Dreyfus has found a couple of demons. One is red and the other is a silverish color although we assume that is because that is due to it not having been in the sun for however long it's been where it is currently." he said to the man as he brushed his hair back.

"Yeah, the enhancement project for the new knights of the order. You told me this about a year ago when you came by." Escanor nodded his head remembering the topic.

Hendrickson nodded his head, "Right, which you already know is a failure thanks in part to Dave when he went rogue nearly six years ago to protect his kids Guila and Zeal from his actions. I assume Gowther found him as I can sense his presence but not the armors own." he said with crossed arms where Escanor nodded his head in agreement, "Anyways, I was ordered by Dreyfus to ingest some of the red demons blood around a week ago. I barely survived it." he said as Escanor looked shocked by the revelation, "And soon, he'll order me to inject a couple drops of the white or silver demons blood into my body to enhance myself even more," he revealed.

"What? Are you serious!? You know you can't go through with it Hendrickson! You could die! It's bad enough that you were almost killed with the red demon's blood when you took it!" Escanor exclaimed.

Hendrickson shook his head, "Dreyfus seems to think otherwise." he stated, "He seems to believe that with my body already enhanced by the red demons blood I could survive the injection of the silver/white demon blood into my body." he said, "I don't know what'll happen, but if you ever return to the capital and I am in fact possessed by the power hungry energy of the Demon Clan, you'll kill me." he said seriously.

Escanor shook his head, "No, I won't do it. Your one of my oldest friends, we've known each other for years, I won't allow you to succumb to the darkness of the demons blood." he proclaimed.

Hendrickson nodded his head, "I know you won't, but I know if it comes down to it, you'll show the world why you are the Lion Sin of Pride." he said as he gave a grin, "After all, your Pride is the Sun." he said as he stood up and walked out of the bar.

Escanor smirked, "Don't I know it, Hendrickson." he said before shaking his head, "Oh brother this isn't going to end well." he said as he walked to his vault, "Whelp, better get going. It's gonna be a couple weeks before the Fight Festival in Vaizel comes round and I need to get a new brand of Fire-mountain Whiskey from Esclossa." he told himself as he began to get his shipment ready to leave in the morning.

**-At the Same Time, In Another Undisclosed Location-**

In a room where nine dark silhouettes stood on a series of stumps that resembled fingers a man with a set of purple eyes with a ripple pattern spoke, "Report, Black Zetsu." he ordered.

"The Nine Tails Boy has been located, but it may not seem believable when I tell you that he is no longer a mere boy." Black Zetsu said.

"Oh do tell, is he a good boy to have grown strong like Tobi, Tobi is a good boy." a man wearing an orange spiral mask question.

"No, he has somehow turned into an adult. I assume it was one of his new colleagues that made the transformation, or used a special seal to enhance his growth." Black Zetsu said before shivering, "However there is something you need to know." he stated.

"Tell us. If we can't get the chakra from him then we'll go for the sister or even that third option." a woman spoke in a commanding tone.

"His power, although suppressed to an impressive amount is still immense. I wager it to match Pein-sama as he is now. I wouldn't cross him if he releases his suppressant to fight." he said in a serious tone.

Pein snorted, "He can try, but like all others, he cannot stand against the full might of a God." he said arrogantly. he then looked to the rest of his group, "Go to Britannia and get him and bring him back. I don't care if he is on the verge of death, but as long as his body holds the Nine Tails' Chakra we can extract it from him into the Gedo Mezo." he ordered as the shadows vanished, "Soon, peace will be in our grasp Yahiko." he muttered to himself.

* * *

**Hey Everyone!**

**I hope you liked the first chapter of, "The Shinobi of the Sun."**

**Now, like I said, this is a harem story, so here is the harem:**

**Merlin (Of course as Escanor is head over heels for the babe (Hell, I would be too if my life was an anime) in the story)**

**Diane**

**Veronica Liones**

**Margaret Liones**

**Elizabeth Liones**

**Melascula**

**Derieri**

**Guila**

**Jericho**

**Ellatte**

**Mito Uzumaki**

**Kushina Uzumaki**

**Mikoto Uchiha**

**Madami Uchiha (OC, Mikoto's sister)**

**Hitomi Uchiha (OC, Sasuke and Itachi's older sister)**

**Hisui Hyuuga (Hinata's Mother)**

**Tenten Higurashi**

**Temari**

**Kurotsuchi**

**Mei Terumi**

**Tsunade**

**Shizune**

**Anko**

**Hana**

**Tsume**

**Kaguya**

**Fem. Kyuubi**

**I don't have anything to say for this story at this current time, but I do want to say that there is currently a poll open concerning whether Ririn and Rurichiyo Kasumioji from Bleach and their positions in my story, "Naruto- The God above Gods."**

**Make sure to place your votes as I will be closing it on the 10th of August. To place your votes, go to the fanfiction website, go to my profile page and at the top click the link, "Vote Now!" before placing your vote.**

**Anyways, that's all I got. Don't forget to favorite, follow and review and I will see you all next time!**

**Peace!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone and welcome back!**

**So, I've been going over the reviews for this story and for "The Tale of the Fox's Sin of Greed" and noticed a lot of you telling me not to pair Elizabeth and Naruto together. Now, I do agree with you and would normally do just that… if it wasn't for the fact that I have a plan for Elizabeth in both this story and my other one. Now, before you ask, it is not some cuck plan of Elizabeth remembers Meliodas and then still chooses Naruto. I have an actual plan that will be possible later on in the story thanks in part to certain objects/spells/jutsus. So, while I say that Elizabeth will be paired with Naruto, I still have a plan for her, so don't fret.**

**Now, I also request that people understand that I am currently in college and I work late nights most of the week so my schedule for writing is very limited during the main semesters like the fall and spring semester. However, since the semester is over, I should have more time over Winter break to work on my stories more. Though I will still be taking online classes so I can graduate sooner and since they're online, I'll still have time.**

**Also, I saw some people asking about Naruto and if he still has chakra or wondering what the Kunoichi will do for the story. Now, I will tell you that Naruto still has chakra but I haven't shown him using it because I didn't show that much in the last chapter. As for the Kunoichi, they will provide a benefit in terms of more fighters to help deal and handle with the Holy Knights or to assist and provide medical support.**

**Anyways, I think that is all I have to say so let's get on with the story!**

"We gonna turn it out till it gets too hot." Normal Speech

"_Everybody sing, hey-o." Past Speech_

"**Tell 'em turn it up till they can't no more." Bijuu/Powerful Being/Demon Speech**

'_Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball.' Normal Thought_

'_**This is your last warning, a courtesy call.' Bijuu/Powerful Being/Demon Speech**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Seven Deadly Sins, those are owned by their respective creators.

* * *

Ch. 2: Pride's Connection to Royalty and a Sleeping Giant!

It was currently the middle of the day right now and Escanor was humming to himself while he went around his little tavern wiping the stone tables and cleaning everything up. He knew that putting his tavern in this little hideaway in the gorge was a risky move, but he was glad that it paid off. He still had a steady flow of customers thanks to the signs he put up throughout the gorge. It even allowed him to help people when they get lost in the gorge since the entrance to his tavern looks over almost the entire gorge, so it makes it easier for people to find their way when they get lost.

Escanor sighed as he looked up at the back wall behind his counter, where a gold-colored axe rested in a hole in the wall that was slightly bigger than the axe. The axe had a strange shape to it as it had a small hilt that was wrapped in blue-colored leather. The guard of the hilt was a semicircle with four spikes coming out of it. Meanwhile, the head of the axe was very large with the massive crescent-shaped blade that seemed connected to the staff of the weapon through the angel-designed metal. There were also two spear-shaped protrusions coming out of the axe head.

This was Divine Axe: Rhitta, his Sacred Treasure that he was given along with the others when they became the Seven Deadly Sins for the Kingdom of Liones.

Escanor smiled as he remembered the day he and his fellow sins received their Sacred Treasures. It had been one of the greatest days of their lives as a group. He remembered all of them, Meliodas, Merlin, Diane, and King with their smiles, Ban with his signature smirk that actually looked happy and Gowther with his face forever in its blank emotion. All of them had partied like no tomorrow on that day from the excitement and he had never been as thankful for his magical glasses as he was then.

Escanor was wearing his regular outfit that consisted of a white, long-sleeved dress shirt, green vest, and pants with his red bow tie and brown shoes. He also wore a pair of glasses with round lenses and a grey-colored metal frame which were a gift from his fellow sin, Merlin, the Sin of Gluttony. He had told her of his desire to be able to walk around during the day without making people uncomfortable at noon from the heat he gives off and to better control his powers. Listening to his request, Merlin was able to fashion the glasses he currently wears that are capable of suppressing his overwhelming magic during the day. He had been so happy when he received the glasses that he had given Merlin a big hug that had surprised her and everyone else since he had been more reserved about his affections.

Before he was given the glasses, his power would make his body smaller at night and make him dangerously skinny to the point he looked ill. However, thanks to the glasses, he didn't have to worry about that anymore since the glasses stopped that, allowing him to remain at his normal height and build. Normally, he's about five foot nine inches tall with a moderate build, not too beefy like his daytime form or extremely scrawny like his nighttime form. He had a good form with his muscles showing that he did workout and focused on speed and powerful bursts than power, a far cry from his daytime form.

Escanor sighed as he said to himself, "I can't believe it has already been ten years since the three of us were framed. It was so sudden that none of us knew what to do but to scatter and run."

* * *

_**~Flashback, 10 Years Ago, Kingdom of Liones~**_

"_Why are we being summoned to an old castle, on today of all days!?" Groaned Meliodas who was wearing his armor minus his helmet. "I was hoping to get in some drinking to celebrate the founding of the kingdom."_

"_You've never needed a reason to come back before," Said a deep, yet nasally voice._

_Meliodas smiled and said, "Yeah, I guess that's true."_

"_It sounded like the Grandmaster had something important to discuss with us," Said one of the Sins who was floating off the ground._

"_Maybe it has something to do with our recent mission involving the Troll Queen!" Diane, who was walking without her helmet, said._

"_That is very true, though we must also be prepared for any possible consequences," Escanor said from behind the helmet of his armor. He was wearing his steel armor with his helmet on while carrying a spear that had a jagged spearhead in place of his Sacred Treasure. "After all, while we did handle the Troll Queen, we also caused a huge mess with the Druid Altar and its destruction, Fair Lady Diane."_

_Diane blushed in embarrassment while she rubbed the back of her head at being called, "Fair Lady," and for being reminded of the destruction they had caused. She knew that she didn't tend to act very womanly at times, but no matter what, Escanor always seemed to treat her and her fellow holy knights who were women with respect. Though they all did notice that he wasn't trying to seem overly charming or respectful, that was just who he was. They also knew that he didn't notice what he did because he tended to be pretty dense at times._

"_Well, whatever the reason, let's get scolded and then go celebrate," Meliodas said._

"_You already decided we're gonna get dressed down," The knight dressed in all red armor asked, though he didn't make it sound like a question._

_Meliodas and the big man wearing light green armor opened the doors, only for all of them to gasp in shock at what they found. The room was destroyed with gashes covering the walls and floor, craters all around the floor, and blood splattered everywhere. However, what garnered all of their attention was that in the center of the room was a corpse, but it wasn't just any corpse. They knew the body was of the Grandmaster who was still speared through and had swords and various spearheads stuck in his still bleeding flesh._

"_GRANDMASTER!" They all heard Meliodas shout in shock._

_All of them were shocked that someone would go so far as to kill the Great Holy Knight, knowing that killing even one Holy Knight was equal to treason against the kingdom. They all then heard a commotion outside and when they looked, they saw every knight in the kingdom surrounding the area they were in. With no other choice, Meliodas ordered them all to flee and that they would all meet back up later._

* * *

_**~Flashback End~**_

Escanor sighed again as he remembered that day, or at least what he could. So much time passed, and yet, so little communication between himself and the others. He understood the reason for it, but he very much wished he could have talked with them and the royal family. Who knows what kind of trouble Princess Veronica would get into with her blunt attitude? Or how many of the remaining loyal, Holy Knights were stressing themselves with Elizabeth's curious and adventure-seeking personality?

And Princess Margaret? What has she been up to these past ten years and is she alright?

"Oh well," Escanor said to himself, "Not much I can do about that right now. I'll see them all again, I just know it. For now, I should go get the cart ready so that I can make my way to Bernia Village, I'm running low on Bernia Ale."

With that, Escanor put away his cleaning supplies before going through the vault door on the back wall to get the empty barrels for his order of Bernia Ale, a few crates for the bottles, and to also prepare the order of alcohol he needs to deliver for the Vaizel Fight Festival. Completely ignoring the spear that was resting against the wall that had a jagged spearhead.

* * *

_**~Meanwhile in Liones~**_

Hendrickson tapped his fingers against the table as he waited for his fellow loyal knights to arrive. It was a small bar that people frequented from time to time so it was normal for a knight to come by every now and then. He couldn't go to his house or the council room in the castle as there were spies for Dreyfus lurking about. A bar was filled with others and would be loud, so it would be nigh impossible to overhear a conversation unless you were part of it. He would not allow his friends to suffer by that demon's dirty hands anymore.

He sat at a table facing the door, so when it opened he could simply motion for them to join and order a drink. They wouldn't be having much just enough to make it look like they were relaxing and having a drink as friends tended to do. As he as thinking this, the door opened to reveal a grinning Howzer talking about his current workout with Gilthunder only to be ignored by the lavender haired beauty and the pink-haired one while an extremely muscular man just nudged him in the side to shut him up. Which was a good thing as the pink-haired beauty walked over to Hendrickson's table and sat down with the other's quickly joining her.

"You wanted to speak with us, Grandmaster Hendrickson?" Howzer asked through the noise of the bar.

The silver-haired man nodded his head, "As you all know, the Second Generation Holy Knights are gaining favor in Dreyfus' order. His Majesty seems to have a bad feeling about them, and as you know, if he has a bad feeling then things tend to happen. However, I have heard some interesting rumors from a couple of them," he said, it wasn't exactly the whole truth but it wasn't a lie either.

Especially with what he was about to tell them, "Rumor has it that Lord Escanor has been found, or rather his axe has been located." he said. He only found this out because he had been followed on his last visit to the man in his hidden bar under the mountain and had tortured the spy for the information.

He didn't like what he had heard either. They had known for roughly six months on his location, not that he had been visiting. Escanor could hold his own, but he only held the advantage in broad daylight. He could fight at night, but he was severely weak and he could be beaten.

Howzer grinned, "So that's one of them, where are the others?" he asked excitedly.

Hendrickson scowled, "Keep your voice down boy, do you want them to hear us?" he growled and got a muttered apology before he calmed himself with a deep exhale, "Now, I want you to know, the Vaizel Fight Fest is coming up in roughly a week or so. I talked to Lord Escanor and found out that he's delivering some alcohol to it to procure some finances. You need to go to this location in the Clouded Valley to get the axe, you need to go into a small gorge to enter the bar, called My Sweet Gluttony. Most likely named after Lady Merlin as he still has feelings for her despite the fact she hasn't returned them to the man."

He then pulled out a map and quickly pointed out the location and marked it so they could easily reach it without trouble, "You need to hurry, there is not much time and I fear they are setting up an ambush for him." Hendrickson said.

"But Grand Master, the Divine Axe Rhitta is the heaviest of all the Sacred Treasures to have been made, it'll take an army to move that thing, and last I checked only Lord Escanor can move it," Margaret said.

Hendrickson nodded his head, "I know, that's why I gathered some... volunteers who seek to free the Sins from their shackles from Dreyfus and his deeds. These are the ones who served the king himself and they know the truth. They will help you take the axe to Vaizel so Lord Escanor can fight and then flee." he told her.

"And what of us, we still planned on entering the fights?" Howzer said.

"Good, that'll be a good cover to relay the message of Dreyfus' ambush to him. Get as close as possible and ensure that you tell him about the attack." Hendrickson said.

Veronica cleared her throat, "And what about this?" she asked pulling out a large purple gem from her jacket.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded.

"From Grandmaster Dreyfus, he said that it was meant to trap Lord Meliodas, but that doesn't make sense, the only way for this to work would be for him to be some type of demon," she responded.

Hendrickson nodded before he looked around and noticed somebody looking at them without taking a drink from their ale, "I see. It seems we will have to finish this discussion another time, the spy is here. I assume he's trying to gather information. We will discuss the rest at a later date. You just worry about getting Rhitta to Escanor. Now, act as if you are trying to enjoy some quality alcohol." he said as he held his mug up, "TO THE KNIGHTS OF LIONES!" he cheered, getting more from the younger group as they smashed their own into his and then they began to act out their enjoyment.

* * *

_**~A Few Days Later~**_

Escanor sighed as he placed another crate into his wagon. He had finished his journey to the best ale makers in the land and had procured his ware to make it to Vaizel just in time for the festival as he usually did every year. However, he was thinking back to the old days. When Meliodas and he would simply lay about looking at the sun and clouds and just the overall time he spent relaxing. Checking the horse once more he had just climbed into his wagon when he heard a loud slap ring out causing him to turn. He felt his eyes widen in shock when he saw a Holy Knight standing above a lavender haired young woman with a scowl on his face.

"Watch where you're going, lest you make me angrier than I already am!" he yelled out at her. He was pissed because the people were no longer afraid of the Holy Knights, or at least not as much as before.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run into you, I was trying to go around you when I bumped into you," She responded as she held her cheek in pain.

"I don't give a damn what you were doing! Don't you know who I am, I'm Fernando Matel of the Holy Knights that directly serve Lord Gilthunder! So what gives you the right to do what you want?!" he demanded as he raised his hand to slap her again.

"I said I'm sorry, what more do you want?" she demanded.

However, this was the wrong thing to ask as he grabbed her by her hair, "Well, since you asked so nicely," he sneered while looking at her with lust in his eyes as he began to drag her away. However, he didn't get far as a hand latched onto his arm causing him to go stiff, "Who dares?!" he demanded as he whirled around not expecting much resistance.

However, he was instead met with a glare from a pair of cold, blue eyes that sent shivers down his spine. He ignored the feeling for now, but would later swear that at that moment, he was being looked at like the prey of a great beast.

"So, young master Gil has grown so arrogant that he allows his underlings to do as they please? Now that doesn't sound like anything that honest and kindhearted little boy I remember would allow and I don't think the young lady wishes to be touched in the way you are about to, so I suggest you let her go." Escanor growled.

"And what's it to you, worm?" the man growled.

"Oh it's really not much, I just don't think the King would like it very much if you were to rape his eldest daughter," Escanor said as he finally got a good look at her. There was no mistake, the necklace she wore was one he had given to her roughly before he had been forced into exile. It was an emblem of the sun, with the letter M carved into it.

The knight felt his heart stop when he heard those words, "That's not possible, the princess would never step out of the castle without an armed escort!" he yelled.

"Oh give it a rest will you," Escanor growled as he kicked the man in the nuts, "You need to get over yourself and learn some manners on how to treat a woman," he said before he slammed his fist into his face and loosed several teeth from the man's mouth as he knocked him out, "And you also need to learn that you are not above the law either," he spoke before turning to Margaret, "It's been quite some time, milady," he said with a bow, "And it is truly an honor to see how beautiful you've turned out to be."

"E-Escanor... you came," she said with tears in her eyes. Margaret had indeed grown into quite the beauty, with her slightly wavy, indigo hair, and her brown eyes. She was currently wearing a blue blouse that hugged her DD-cup breasts, with a brown skirt and shoes with white stockings.

Escanor chuckled as he said, "I told you didn't I, that I would always be there when you needed me most."

He then gave a slight laugh when she launched herself into his chest forcing him to wrap his arms around her, "Well, not that I don't appreciate the gesture, I think you need to return to what you were doing. It wouldn't be proper for a woman of your stature to be found with a wanted criminal now." Naruto said only for Margaret to start crying.

"No! I can't do that, not after what that man nearly did to me, j-just let me hold onto you for a bit to calm myself. Please?" she requested.

Escanor sighed as he slowly wrapped his arms around her, "I guess I could give you a hug to help you calm down a bit." he told her.

They stood there for a few minutes before she had managed to calm down enough for them to start moving. Escanor didn't want to leave her alone anymore so he had suggested that she instead travel with him until they were either closer to the castle, or until they found a group of Holy Knights who they both trusted. As they walked around Bernia Village, they had discovered that there had been a group that passed through here and were responsible for returning the water after removing a sword from the ground. Apparently, the group had consisted of a large group of women, two pigs, and a little, blonde-haired boy, and it was the boy who had pulled out the sword.

This had surprised the two as they had never heard about anyone being strong enough to pull out a sword that was magically enhanced by a Holy Knight. However, Escanor's eyes narrowed when he heard of one of the women stopping a spear by catching it with an arm that had been wrapped in chains.

Chains that came out of the young woman's back and gave off a type of energy.

If his hunch was correct, then who else was here and what were they doing here?

Margaret must have sensed something was wrong with Escanor because she asked, "Escanor, are you okay?"

Escanor looked at Margaret from the corner of his eye and saw her worried look and sighed as he thought, '_Of course she's worried. I haven't said anything since we left Bernia Village.'_

Which was true, the two had left Bernia Village almost an hour ago and were currently on the road to Vaizel for their annual Fight Festival. Escanor went there every year to procure business and enjoy watching the contestants fight each other. He had almost signed up one year, until he remembered that if his glasses ever fell off while he was fighting, then he would most likely cause a lot of damage and a lot of injuries.

Escanor looked at Margaret and gave her a small smile as he said, "It is nothing, milady. Just the story about this strange group of people passing through here caught my attention and made me remember something from my past. I used to know someone with the same abilities that were described to us however it has been many years since I last saw them, so there is no possible way that it is who I am thinking of."

Margaret gave him a sad smile as she leaned on his shoulder and said, "So, you miss the people you knew from your home?" She felt Escanor give a slight nod in agreement as she then said, "If you and the others were pardoned, would you go back?"

Escanor was able to hear the sadness and fear in her voice and he had an idea as to why that is.

"Your afraid that if I and the others are pardoned, that I'll choose to go back to my old home, aren't you?" Escanor asked.

Margaret squeezed the arm she was holding a little tighter as she nodded her head and replied, "Yes, I'm afraid. It's just that you became an important part of the kingdom and my family. I don't want you to leave the kingdom, your friends, or me." She muttered the last part, but Escanor was still able to hear her.

Escanor turned towards her and lifted her chin so she could look at him so she could see the warm smile on his face. Escanor then said, "I understand that you are afraid, if our positions were reversed, I would also feel afraid at losing someone precious to me," Margaret blushed at this, as she remembered Escanor talk about how he would protect his precious people.

"However, your fears are unwarranted," Escanor said, getting Margaret to look at him with curiosity. He then smiled and continued, "While I would be incredibly happy to finally be able to return home, it has been so many years that everyone has probably forgotten about me. And even if they haven't, I doubt that they would even recognize who I am since I've changed so much."

Margaret looked sad at this as she now realized Escanor wouldn't leave because he, himself, was afraid of returning home. Her attention was drawn back to Escanor when he said, "However, despite my fears, those aren't the reasons I wouldn't return home."

Seeing Margaret's confused face, Escanor said, "I wouldn't return home because everything I could ever want is here. The other sins, the kingdom, you, I wouldn't go back because there's no need for me to go back."

Margaret was shocked at Escanor's words, as this would probably be the closest to a confession she would hear. However, she knew that this wasn't a confession, but she was content for now. With a smile, Margaret gently held Escanor's arm and laid her head on his shoulder. Escanor was slightly surprised by Margaret's actions, but he softly smiled as he let her do as she pleased.

Besides, he didn't mind. After all, why would he be bothered to be the shoulder one of his precious people can lean on?

* * *

_**~Meanwhile~**_

It had been a few days since Meliodas, Elizabeth and everyone else left Bernia Village and given them back their water. Right now the group was walking through a forest that was filled with dead trees and thick mist. During the time they had spent in Bernia Village, Elizabeth, Tenten, Anko, and Mito all worked as serving girls which got them some information about Holy Knights avoiding a place called, "**The Forest of White Dreams."**

They had been curious about this rumor as, if even the Holy Knights weren't going there, then it was worth checking out.

Elizabeth then began climbing up some roots, with the of Mito, and said, "It's been almost three hours since we entered the forest… but I haven't seen a single person _or_ animal."

"I only see trees and their dead branches, and I'm getting sick of it! Oink," said Hawk.

"Could one of the seven really be here, Meliodas?" asked Elizabeth.

Before he could answer, Kushina beat him to it, "It is possible Elizabeth, after all, with all of this fog, and the vastness of it, this could be the best place to hide."

"That may be true, but I heard rumors of monsters living here. Oink," said Hawk, while being slightly scared.

Hana came up to Hawk and began to rub his head while saying, "It's okay Hawk, nothing is going to get you while we're here to help."

This got Hawk to calm down, at least until he heard Elizabeth scream. This got the group to grip their weapons with some pulling out kunai, and Mito, Satsuki, and Kushina pulling out their swords, ready for a fight. Until they turned around and saw Meliodas groping Elizabeth's butt, which promptly got him smacks from the kunoichi.

Meliodas then began talking, despite the numerous lumps on his head from the kunoichi, about how because the forest is covered by the fog all year round, that traveling by horse would be difficult, and that it would be easy to lose your sense of direction, and how even hunters avoid this forest, thus making it an ideal hiding spot from the Holy Knights.

Suddenly, Elizabeth realized something was different about herself right now, this caused her to wonder what happened, which did not go unnoticed by the others. Mito then asked Elizabeth if she was alright, which got Elizabeth to blush like crazy and reply that she was fine. Her response was met with some suspicion but was otherwise ignored.

"Hey, you guys! Hurry up already! Don't you know that monsters always attack when people are messing around!" exclaimed Hawk.

"Calm down Hawk," said Meliodas, "No one likes a paranoid piglet."

"**Who a paranoid piglet?" **came the reply of multiple voices at the same time, which got the group to turn and see that there were now multiple Hawks.

The group was surprised to see something like this. Elizabeth asked if this was the work of the monster in the forest, and Meliodas simply said that Hawk must have been right about a monster and that it was pretty crazy. All of the Hawks began to ask the group for help, while also saying that they each were fakes before telling the group to do something.

While the group was trying to think about what to do, Meliodas solved everything. By beating up every single Hawk there. The group looked surprised at the sudden bout of violence, with Elizabeth shouting in worry for Hawk. Then all of the Hawks ran behind Elizabeth while complaining about how even Hawk's mother doesn't hit him. Elizabeth got worried about Hawk and turned around to make sure he was okay, but when she turned around, she came face to face with a copy of herself. Suddenly, more and more copies came out, before there were several copies of Elizabeth all saying they were the real one, but the group just couldn't figure out which was the real one.

The Elizabeth copies then move forward and try to attack the group, but the kunoichi and Meliodas all disappeared and then reappeared by the Elizabeths. Meliodas then told the Elizabeths that they had to listen to everything he said. He took advantage of this and had all of the Elizabeths grope their breasts after getting them to say his name with an embarrassed and put their right hand up with their left hand on their cheek. When the kunoichi saw this, they all smacked him upside the head with their fists or their weapons that were still in their sheaths.

Meliodas then said, with several lumps on his head, "This is the last test, jump as high as you can!" The kunoichi were confused at this request, until they saw all of the Elizabeths jump except for one, who crouched down to the floor while holding down her skirt, with a bright blush on her face. Meliodas then charged forward at a rapid pace and attacked all of the Elizabeths that were in the air, who then fell to the ground and exploded into a plume of smoke. Once the smoke cleared, it revealed a bunch of small, ugly creatures with blue skin and warts while wearing cloaks to cover their bodies and boots, who were all running away, deeper into the forest.

"What were those things?!" exclaimed Mito, with the other kunoichi wondering the same thing.

"Those were Prankster Imps known as, 'Hide-and-Seeks!'" informed Hawk.

The began to chase after them when Meliodas said to do so, but then also smacked him again when he revealed that he had taken Elizabeth's panties. As the group was chasing them, they saw the imps running to what looked like a little girl who was curled up, sleeping. This got the group to begin running faster, thinking the imps were going to attack the girl. At least until they got closer and saw that the little girl wasn't so little. She looked to be 30 feet tall, had brown hair that was tied up in twin tails, and a well-endowed, curvaceous body. She was wearing a short-sleeved, one-piece orange jumpsuit, matching colored boots with five crossed laces that reach up to her knees, and two fingerless gauntlets of a blue-grey leathery material covered in shiny steel studs. The final thing that the group noticed was the serpent symbol that was on her left thigh.

The group then noticed the imps go up to the sleeping girl and say, "Lo...Lord Diane! We've allowed a group of Holy Knights to come through! Please forgive us!"

At this, the newly named Diane's eyes snapped open, she stood up, and before the group could do anything, Meliodas and Mito were snatched up in her hands with her wondering, "Holy Knights?"

"He… Hey giant woman, are you going to eat Meliodas and Mito?!" exclaimed Hawk.

"Please let Sir Meliodas and Mito go!" exclaimed Elizabeth.

"May I ask that you let my daughter go, please?" asked Kushina, while readying her weapon along with the other kunoichi, who were ready to attack at a moment's notice.

Diane looked at the two in her hands before focusing on Meliodas, and squinted her eyes in focus while wondering out loud, "Meliodas…?"

Meliodas simply said, "Hey, Diane! How've you been these past 10 years?!"

Diane stared at Meliodas in concentration for a second before she grew extremely happy and exclaimed, "CAPTAAAAAIN!" Happy at seeing her captain again after 10 years.

Hawk, Elizabeth, and the rest of the group were surprised to find out that this was Diane of the Seven Deadly Sins, with Hawk exclaiming, "Di… Diane?! You mean this giant is one of the seven… The Sin of Envy, Diane…!?"

Diane looked and saw Hawk and thought that Meliodas brought her food because she loved whole roasted pig, but that was fervently declined. Diane then looked over towards Mito and asked, "So who are you?"

Mito then introduced herself, "Hello, my name is Mito, and me and my fellow kunoichi along with Elizabeth there, are traveling with Meliodas to find the Seven Deadly Sins."

Diane then put them both down and asked, "Really? Why would you be looking for us?"

Elizabeth then answered, "I am looking for the seven because I wish for their help in stopping the Holy Knights."

Diane nodded her head in understanding before looking over to the kunoichi group, who had finally relaxed after Mito was released, and asked, "So, what about you guys? Why are you looking for us?"

Kushina answered and said, "We aren't looking for all of you per se, but more the Sin of Pride, Escanor."

"Okay, but why are you looking for him?" asked Diane, with Meliodas answering.

"Remember all those stories that Escanor used to tell us that he was told by this person named Naruto?" he asked, getting a nod from Diane at her remembering, "Well, it turns out he ran away and vanished from their village. However, because of the pact, the kingdom has with their homeland, even if Escanor wanted to help, he wouldn't be able to because their homeland would have to honor the pact and try to send him back here."

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Diane, "I remember those stories! I always loved listening to those stories!" Diane then asked, "What did your son look like and why did he run away?"

Kushina described what Naruto looked like before she went on to explain about how the **Kyuubi** attacked the village with her ex-husband sealing it into Naruto and Mito. She then went on the explain how Naruto would be bullied and treated differently and then how when he first disappeared, her ex-husband didn't let her know that he had been secretly sending out search teams. During the explanation, Diane looked upset at the villagers for treating Naruto like that and sad at what happened.

"And then, when we first heard about Escanor knowing his last location, we came and searched whilst training my daughter for the past 3 years to get stronger since she hadn't been as strong as the rest of us. From there, we looked around and tried to gather information on the seven, Escanor, or Naruto until we ended up at Meliodas's bar, where we ran into Elizabeth and found out Meliodas was one of the seven when defending Elizabeth from a Holy Knight Apprentice. From there, we helped Bernia Village where we got information about a forest that the Holy Knights avoid, and the rest is history." Kushina finished, getting Diane to look at the kunoichi in admiration at all that they could do, as during the explanation, they each gave brief descriptions of what they could.

"Wow!" exclaimed Diane with stars in her eyes, "You guys sound amazing for humans!"

This got the kunoichi to chuckle, giggle, and laugh, along with Elizabeth, at seeing such a big girl act like such a little kid.

Meliodas then decided to say, "Hey Diane, about what happened 10 years ago…"

Diane caught on and asked, "The day we were summoned by the Great Holy Knight, right?"

Meliodas nodded before saying, "I have almost no memory from that day." This got not only Diane, but the entire group to be surprised at someone not remembering anything. Meliodas then goes on to explain what he remembers that day up until he doesn't anymore. **(A.N. Exactly the same as in the anime and manga)**

"When I woke up, I was in a hole somewhere. That's actually where I met Hawk." Meliodas said.

"Do you think one of the seven is a traitor and framed us for the murder of the Great Holy Knight?" asked Diane.

"I dunno, that's why I'm looking for them, to try and find out what happened. However, if anything, Merlin or Escanor would know what happened, since Merlin never was one to allow someone to get the drop on her. Plus, she held a soft spot for Escanor so she would be sure to help him with that day."

Diane nodded her head agreeing with Meliodas about Merlin and Escanor. Then she lightly blushed remembering Escanor and how kind and respectful he was to her.

"Alright! I, The Serpent's Sin of Envy, Diane, will lend you my strength!" exclaimed Diane.

This got the group to exclaim in happiness and joy at getting another sin to help them along the journey. However, before they could begin moving out of the forest, they all heard Hawk exclaim.

"Guys! Look up!"

The group looked up to see a massive thunder cloud, when suddenly, several bolts of lightning came down and wrapped around everyone, paralyzing them in place. Then they heard someone stepping into the clearing with them and when they looked they saw Gilthunder, who said, "So you are alive, Meliodas?"

The group were all looking calm, except for Hawk and Elizabeth, who were struggling against their bonds and Elizabeth exclaimed, "Gilthunder!? What are you doing here?"

"Gilthunder?" wondered Meliodas.

"He's… the Holy Knight… Gilthunder! He's a Holy Knight that's very close to the king… my father…" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"Gilthunder…?" Meliodas wondered again, "Where have I heard that name from?"

"He always took care of me like a real little sister… He's like a big brother to me!" exclaimed Elizabeth.

Then Mito decided to ask, "Hey… this lightning, the sealed river in Bernia, and the attempt to wipe it out… that was all you, right?"

"Mito! That's a terrible thing to say! He's not the kind of person who would do such a…" Elizabeth shouted at Mito before she saw Gilthunder's face and grew scared when she saw the evil look he had and the feeling of malice he exuded. "This… is… the same feeling from Bernia… It's a lie… right? You… can't be!" She exclaimed with fear in her voice.

"Elizabeth," Gilthunder began, "The kingdom's top priority is to ensure your safety. But that's got nothing to do with me. Whether you live or die… is like a grain of sand in the path to the Holy Knights' rule." Gilthunder explained before, with a wave of his hand, he released the electric bindings on Elizabeth. "Leave. I only have business with the sins, and the one who threw my spear back at me."

The kunoichi tensed until Elizabeth then moved in front of the two sins, the kunoichi, and Hawk stating, "I won't let you lay a hand on them! Release your spell and let them go!" This got everyone to look at Elizabeth in shock at her bravery before Hawk toppled over.

"BRRRRRRRR…! I'm finished!"

Elizabeth ran over to Hawk and crouched down and said, "Hang on Hawk!" Before he was kicked away with a loud "OOIIINNKK!" by Gilthunder. The group was shocked by this before Meliodas had a blade with a rounded end at his neck being held by Gilthunder who was behind him.

Gilthunder then asked Meliodas, "Do you know why we're after your heads?"

"I dunno." was all Meliodas said.

"Some say it's because the Holy Knights want to purge the traitorous knights who tried to overthrow the kingdom." Gilthunder said, "While others are looking to increase their prestige and prove their strength by fighting the legendary seven."

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Mito, "And which might you be?!"

Gilthunder simply said, "Both" then he explained, "Revenge for the death of my father, the Great Holy Knight, Zaratras, who was called the strongest Holy Knight. And, by killing the seven, I can prove I am stronger and surpassed my father."

Meliodas then exclaimed, "Now I remember! You're Little Gil! The little kid who always followed us around, saying he wanted to be just like us!" all with a smile. Then Meliodas exclaimed, "You sure have grown! Escanor would be very excited to see how much you've grown!"

Gilthunder then appeared in front of Meliodas, and said, "That was in the past. I am now stronger than any of you sins."

"Maybe," said Meliodas, "But you don't know for sure."

"..." Gilthunder thought for a second, "Then I will release you and we'll see." Gilthunder said getting ready to release the spell.

Meliodas simply said, "Don't worry about it."

And with that Meliodas and Diane simply spread their arms open a bit, and when they looked at the kunoichi, they saw them be covered in smoke before revealing logs in their places and then they came out from the shadows of the trees. This got Diane to look at them with stars in her eyes again and exclaim, "COOOOL!" Getting the Kunoichi to chuckle at her reaction before she turned back to Gilthunder with a calm face and waited with her hands on her hips.

Meliodas and the kunoichi were stretching seeing as they were bound for a good few minutes and Meliodas said, "I could've broken out of there whenever I wanted if I felt like it."

"I could wipe out you and this entire forest if I felt like it," Gilthunder said.

"Mm, I doubt it. That's impossible." Meliodas said with a cheeky grin.

"..." Gilthunder paused before saying, "Then I'll kill you."

"Right back at ya'," Meliodas responded.

Gilthunder then looked to the kunoichi and said, "When I am done with him, I will find out which of you threw my spear back."

"Doubt it." said Anko, getting the kunoichi to chuckle again, "Besides, I'm pretty sure you won't beat him anyways."

Gilthunder then heard Meliodas say, "Diane, don't interfere." With Diane replying, "Okay captain."

They both got ready with Gilthunder putting his left foot forward and sword ready to strike, and Meliodas put his right foot forward right next to Gilthunder with his arms relaxed.

Gilthunder asked, "Too embarrassed to lose a fight, even if it's two against one?"

Meliodas simply replied, "Don't you get it? I'm trying to be polite."

Gilthunder then brought his sword down and struck using a huge amount of lightning, before he noticed it be countered, and sent back at him by Meliodas's ability, "Full Counter."

"Didn't I say?" asked Meliodas, "Right back at you."

Gilthunder then appeared behind Meliodas, showing he dodged the rebounded lightning and said, "Didn't I say?" He then slashed Meliodas' shoulder and continued, "I'll kill you."

Diane simply looked on with slight worry now visible along with the kunoichi and Elizabeth when Meliodas was struck and began falling to the ground. After he hit the ground, Gilthunder looked down at him and said, "Meliodas, The Dragon's Sin of Wrath, any last words?"

Meliodas then weakly began speaking, "The… others… The other seven… the rest of our group… I wanted… to know… where they are…"

Gilthunder obliges Meliodas and says, "Very well. Of the remaining five, we don't know the whereabouts of three, but we already know where the other two are." Gilthunder said before continuing, "The Fox Sin of Greed is imprisoned is Baste Dungeon, and the Grizzly's Sin of Sloth perished in the capital of the dead." Gilthunder revealed.

Meliodas continued to lie on the ground for a little longer, looking weak and about to die, before he snapped his eyes open and exclaimed, "Thanks!" with a smile. Meliodas then jumped to his feet and mused over the information out loud while still crouching, "So, the Fox is in Baste Dungeon… and the Grizzly is in the capital of the dead." He then stood up and said, "Thanks, Little Gil! I'll make sure to pay them a visit."

Gilthunder then understood what Meliodas did, "I see. You purposely allowed yourself to get hurt and feigned weakness to find out about the others."

"Yup! So, we'll have to continue this another time… alright?" Meliodas said.

Gilthunder then said, "As if, I'll let you go." And attempted to strike Meliodas but was wrapped in glowing, purple chains. He looked back and saw one of the kunoichi with red hair holding him with the chains coming out of her back. He checked the chains and remembered the purple energy on the spear, and asked, "So, you're the one who threw my spear back?"

"That's right!" exclaimed Mito. Gilthunder tried to get out of the chains using his magic but it didn't appear, which surprised him until Mito said, "There's no point in trying to break free or use your magic as these chains seal it away as long as you're wrapped in them!"

Mito then tossed him up and yelled, "Batter up!" Which got Diane to pick up a tree and hold it over her shoulder before she swung at Gilthunder launching him into the air, when Gilthunder channeled his lightning magic through the tree to Diane, in an effort to damage her, but did nothing except destroy her gloves along with the tree. At this time, Hawk came running back with scratches and burns shouting about how he was going to beat up Gilthunder until he realized that Gilthunder was gone.

Elizabeth then asked, "Sir Meliodas, what about your wound?"

Meliodas shrugged it off and said, "It's no big deal."

However, before he could begin moving, he was hit with some senbon needles in the left arm, and left leg before Meliodas simply fell over. Diane, Elizabeth, and Hawk were surprised by this and looked towards the rest of their group and saw Hinata with veins slowing retreating, showing she had just used her byakugan and was handing Tenten the rest of the senbon needles she threw. Diane got mad and shouted, "What are you doing?! Why would you attack the captain?!" With Elizabeth wondering the same thing.

"Because he was injured and it was necessary," said Shizune while moving towards Meliodas, with her hands taking something from her ninja pouches before she was grabbed by Diane, who was glaring at her and slightly squeezing her, causing her some pain, which got her to twitch. The rest of the kunoichi got their weapons ready and tensed.

Mikoto then shouted, "Let her go!"

Diane looked at her and said, "No, she was going to kill the captain and you guys attacked him! So, why should I do as you say?!"

"Because he isn't dead, just temporarily paralyzed so that he can be treated!" shouted Tsunade, getting Diane to look at Meliodas who was still awake and said, "Yeah, I'm fine Diane. I just can't move right now."

Diane then opened her hand and saw that Shizune had some bandages, string, needles, and medicine, to clean, stitch, and wrap the wound. This got Diane to look sheepish and put her down, before apologizing, "Sorry about that. It's just that the way you said that and the sudden attack made me think you guys were enemies who had been pretending to be allies." The kunoichi relaxed and put away their weapons before smiling with Kushina replying.

"It's okay. We understand, it's just that we have a lot of knuckle-headed people in our village and my son used to be the same, where he would receive a wound but wouldn't treat it until he passed out after completing the mission or when there was a big enough break and we had to treat him."

This got the group to smile at the times Naruto would act tough but then pass out from blood loss after the mission was completed. The sins, however, looked surprised at how tenacious someone could be, this also got them thinking about Escanor and how he would act like that at night, during his weakest.

The group is now back on the road, with a patched-up Meliodas currently riding Diane's shoulder, holding up Ban's and King's wanted posters, while saying, "The Fox's sin was thrown into a dungeon, and the Grizzly's sin is presumed dead and buried. What do you think Diane?"

"Well, if it is true that King is dead, then I say we check it out after getting Ban. Because there would be no point in going to the Capital of the Dead, completely passing Baste Dungeon, which by the way is closer, and then finding out the rumor was true, and before needing to head back to Baste, wasting more time to find the others." Diane said with a slight shrug to not throw off Meliodas and not jolt him too much to irritate his bandaged wound.

"It will also be best to head to the village first as that way, Lady Tsunade and I can properly finish dealing with that wound," said Shizune, who was confident in her and Lady Tsunade's skills as medic-nin, but they would prefer a proper place where they wouldn't have to worry about getting attacked due to being out in the open.

Everyone agreed, and with that, they all began to make their way out of the forest and towards Baste

Dungeon.

* * *

**Hey everyone!**

**So sorry for the long wait, this one I finished over the past few days but I got delayed with helping out my family when we got a cake order since we run a pastry business out of home.**

**The next story to be updated will be "Highschool of the Devil" and I will update it as soon as I finish.**

**See you all next time, and remember to favorite, follow, and review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello Everyone! Welcome Back!**

**Now, this chapter is going to skip several parts from the canon since we are focusing on Naruto/Escanor's portion of the story. I did the first two chapters the way I did since they were important for background and such, but now I will be diverging from canon.**

_**NazgulBelserion:**_ **Thank you for the review. I kind of understand why you said that but also understand that I started that story when I had first begun writing, so of course my first two stories kind of sucked when compared to now. I also agree that Merlin is an amazing woman.**

_**Stranger Glass: **_**Thank you, yes, it was planned for Gilthunder to be surprised since he's never seen an ability like that, especially when it doesn't allow magic to be channeled. Also, thank you for understanding, I do indeed get busy with school and work, so it saddens me when I take so long to put out updates to my stories.**

_**LoamyCoffee: **_**Thank you, and yeah, it's not that people don't pay attention, it's just that I haven't brought it to attention on what I plan on doing with her.**

_**Macbean84: **_**Thank you for the review. I understand that they are both very much alike, however, that was only so that I could get a base. The two stories will now begin to change and diverge from each other. Though there may be times they are very similar to each other, they will still be very different.**

**I wanted to thank all of you for your reviews and that I do apologize for not updating more often. I do my best but I also try to make it up to everyone by updating more than one story within a period of time.**

**Now, I don't think there's anything else I have to say, but if I think of anything else, it will be in the endnotes. So, let's get on with the story!**

"We gonna turn it out till it gets too hot." Normal speech

"_Everybody sing, hey-o." Past speech_

**"Tell 'em turn it up till they can't no more." Bijuu/Powerful Being/Demon speech**

'_Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball.' Normal thought_

**'**_**This is your last warning, a courtesy call.' Bijuu/Powerful Being/Demon thoughts**_

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Naruto or The Seven Deadly Sins, those are owned by Masashi Kishimoto and Nakaba Suzuki, respectively.**

* * *

**Ch. 3 Festival, Reunions, and Ambush**

_**~Vaizel Fight Festival~**_

Escanor smiled as he stopped the horse, "Ah, finally made it. Been looking forward to this for an entire year. The amazing Vaizel Fight Festival, a good thing it was held today else I'd probably lose some business," he sighed happily.

Margaret raised a brow, "Seriously, this is why you came here, for the fighting festival?" she asked him as she crossed her arms under her bust.

Escanor shook his head, "Not all the time. I usually come here for trade. I have to sell some of my stock to keep my tavern as well as pay for the land it's on. I only found out about this roughly six years ago. Back then there was a giantess that came here, but after she got a bit tipsy they got banned. Ah~, that was a fun year, let me tell you. Matrona sure can throw back a few barrels." he said laughing. Calming down he sighed in remembrance, "I wonder if she ever settled down with that Zalpa fellow that saved her. Nice folks they were." he said as he stood up and climbed down before he held up his hand, "Milady." he said as he took her hand gently in his own to help her climb off the wagon.

"She might have, but in order to find out, you should just ask her," Margaret said.

"Hmph, that is a good idea, except it's been so long I forget where they lived," he stated.

"That's too bad, I bet she'd be happy to see an old friend like you after so long."

Escanor nodded, "Yeah, but it's best to let bygones be bygones. Now why don't we get ready to celebrate a good day of business." he smirked.

Margaret gave a blank look, "You're joining the fights aren't you." she said causing him to stiffen.

"J-Just a couple rounds Princess," he said.

"And why do I get the feeling I'm going to be roped into this unwillingly?" she asked herself.

"That's the spirit! Alright, let's go make some money!" Escanor cheered. Margaret shook her head at his antics, but she couldn't help the smile that grew on her face at seeing the strongest in the kingdom acting like a kid.

'_It's always quite the sight,' _Margaret thought with a smile, '_That the strongest in the kingdom can act like such a kid, but that's what I like about him.'_

With that thought, Margaret blushed a tiny bit but still kept her smile as she followed Escanor through the various shops and stalls that lined the road. Neither of the two were aware of the events that were to occur today.

* * *

_**~Meanwhile~**_

While Escanor and Margaret had already arrived and were now walking around the festival, we find a familiar giant pig approaching the festival. On top of the pig's head sat Mito as she stared into space, thinking about how her brother might be. Was he okay? Does he have a family? Is he happy? Did he have children?

So many questions were flowing through her mind, but with just as many positive questions she had, she had just as many negative ones. Had he died? Was he in pain? Did he ever have his heartbroken? Was he dying?

"**Calm down Kit."**

Mito was broken from her thoughts as she felt her consciousness being pulled into her mindscape. Opening her eyes, Mito was greeted to the sight of a wide-open field and a bright blue sky filled with clouds. However, the real attention catcher was the giant, nine-tailed fox that stood in front Mito. **(Everyone should know what Kurama looks like so I'm not going to do a description)**

"Kurama?" Mito asked, confused as to why she was here.

"**I understand you're worried kit," **Kurama said in a tone that, despite being deep and demonic, still held a feminine tone to it, signifying that Kurama was female, "**But you shouldn't worry too much. You don't want your 'dear onii-chan' to see you with grey hairs, do you?"**

At Kurama's teasing, Mito blushed bright red before exclaiming, "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Kurama chuckled as she began to shrink and change until standing in front of Mito was a beautiful woman instead of a massive fox. She had long red hair that reached just above her toned, heart-shaped ass that was contained by a pair of black spats and her eyes had turned into an amber color. She wore a red tunic with a white tribal fox design that hugged her F-cup breasts.

"**Sure you don't,"** The now human-looking Kurama said with a knowing smile and her voice no longer sounding demonic, "**So all those vivid dreams you would have when you were younger between yourself and your brother were just caused by hormones and puberty?"**

Mito's blush returned full-force at that as she knew Kurama had her there. She knew full well that with Kurama being able to hear her thoughts, there was nothing she could hide. Mito's blush grew even more when she heard Kurama laughing at her expression before she looked down in embarrassment.

After a minute, Kurama finally managed to calm down and she said, "**Anyways, your incestuous feelings aside,"** Kurama ignored Mito's pouting glare, "**You shouldn't worry about the 'what if's.' It won't do you any good and will only serve to stress you out even more. Besides, despite being separated from me and not knowing where it is, I can tell that he's doing just fine thanks to my chakra inside of him."**

Mito calmed down at that and smiled, "That's good to hear, and you're right. I can't let myself get caught up in all the worries and doubts. I just miss him and when I start thinking about him, I can't help but be worried."

Kurama smiled at Mito before moving over and giving her a hug that Mito returned as she said, "**I understand kit, but just remember, you're not the only one worried about him. Your mom, Mikoto, and her sister, Lady Tsunade, and the others from our group and some from the village are all worried about him. You just need to have faith that you'll reunite with him someday."**

Mito smiled as she and Kurama separated before nodding her head and saying, "Thank you Kurama, and you're right, I just need to have faith."

Kurama nodded and gave a soft sigh before saying, **"Now I think you need to get going. That blonde brat is speaking and it sounds important from the sound of things," **she ordered the teen.

* * *

-Outside the Seal-

"So, with that in mind, most of us shall have to join the fighting so we can have a better chance at getting Gideon back," Meliodas said.

"But Captain, Diane can't come, remember? The people have banned any giants from participating so how will she be able to get it back?" King asked. This was King, the Sin of Sloth. Although he is a fairy, his form resembles that of a young boy with short brown hair, a high forehead, thin eyebrows, and brownish-orange eyes. He wears a long orange and an aqua sweatshirt with a hood and navy blue sleeves, quarter-length navy blue pants, and short boots with large buttons matching his hoodie. He also carries a green leopard pattern pillow which is a transformation of his spear Chastiefol. Despite being a fairy, he has yet to grow visible wings.

"And that is where our friends come in. While we are busy fighting, they can place their runes all over it discreetly and when the time comes we can simply have them use their power to make it appear somewhere we can go to get it," the Demon Prince said grinning.

"Uh, Captain, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I just got back and I think you should hear this," Ban, the Fox Sin of Greed, said.

"Huh? What is it? No titty bars?" Meliodas asked.

"PERVERT!" Mito cried as she smashed a mug across his head causing a large lump to appear.

"Uh, no. While that is a good thought, it's not what I was going to say," Ban said.

"Then, what is it?" King asked, causing the immortal to look at him.

"They found the Divine Axe Rhitta, and it's en route now. It'll be here in an hour if not less," Ban said seriously.

"That shouldn't be possible. There are only two ways of moving it, and with good reason. The first would be if Escanor himself had it in his hand while the other would be to teleport it with Magic. And there is only one mage powerful enough to move such a heavy object and she's in hiding right now," Meliodas said seriously.

"Uh, what exactly is the Divine Axe Rhitta, and why are those the only two ways of moving it? It's just an ax, right?" Anko asked.

"It's not your ordinary run of the mill weapon. That axe, is Escanor's ultimate weapon. It's imbued with special properties that allow him to store his energy inside and summon it when he is desperate. There is also the fact that it's several times heavier than Diane's Sacred Treasure, Gideon the War-hammer, making it the heaviest of all the known Sacred Treasures. It was designed specifically just for Escanor to use in battle due to its nigh indestructibility," Ban explained to the ninja.

"Which is confusing, because it takes at least two sins or the captain himself to move it. They would need an army to move it with the sheer weight alone," King said in thought. Like seriously, who had found it, and how did they manage to transport it. This was too coincidental, there was something amiss.

"That's unsettling. Just how strong is this Escanor guy to have such a heavy weapon?" Tsunade asked the Sins.

"Much stronger than me that's for sure," Ban said softly.

"I can't even compare to the guy, hell I don't think even I could scratch him going all out," King said shrugging.

"He can hold me off with just a finger," Diane said shyly.

"He's much stronger than any of the sins except for one of us, but she only puts him to sleep, but she has to be both quick and it has to be at a certain time to knock him out," Meliodas admitted.

"How much power does this guy have? It's like you're all hyping him up to be some type of god," Satsuki said with a huff.

"Listen girly, all of you can attack him with your strongest attacks, but in the end, all it'll do is make him laugh. You could even pin him to the ground using those special runes of yours, but he'll simply break through them with hardly any effort. Escanor is the Lion Sin of Pride for a reason. This is a saying that he follows, 'Why should I hate someone who's weaker than me?' He even says that all he feels is pity for those weaker than him. You should take those words to heart because if you ever try to fight him, you'll lose before the battle even begins. He's taken on entire armies and beaten them all on his own. He is the definition of unrivaled strength," Ban told the young Uchiha seriously.

"Ok, so he's powerful. If you could tell us, seeing as we've seen all of your abilities, just what exactly is Escanor's power?" Mikoto asked the sin.

"It is up in the sky, burning bright right now, a big golden ball of pure light," Meliodas said quietly.

"But the only thing up in the sky's the sun, why would he have a power that's related to it?" Hana asked in confusion.

"That's because his power rises and falls with the sun. It's a simple name, but it is more than likely the strongest ability in all of the world. Even the gods tremble in his presence. And at high noon, no person in the world can rival him," Diane said quietly, "He's only been beaten once, but that was just before he became a knight of our order," she told the ninja.

"M-Meliodas, are you guys being serious?" Hawk asked shivering, "This guy sounds like trouble, and if what you say is true then how can any of us beat him?" the pig squawked.

"We're serious. Escanor is our strongest member. And as to who can beat him, none of us. And I only beat him cuz I tricked him," Meliodas said.

"Uh, Meliodas-sama, seeing as Escanor-sama's weapon is being brought here, do you think that Lord Escanor is still hiding, or is he somewhere else?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

"No, if I know Escanor well enough, which I do, then he's more than likely already here," Meliodas said grinning.

"Huh, what do you mean?" the princess asked.

"He never could resist a good brawl," Ban chuckled as he remembered times when he and Escanor would mess around. Even though it more often than not ended with him getting completely demolished.

"Yeah, and then at night, the guy was cool and relaxed whereas his other self tends to be super arrogant," King huffed.

"Huh, does he have a split personality?" Tsunade asked.

"No, he is just arrogant during the day. Usually, he's far more honest and doesn't give a crap about what happens," the fairy said, "He's actually very laid back during the day now that I think about it," he admitted in thought.

"Well, we better get going, cause if we're going to meet this Escanor kid, we need to be fast," Tsunade said.

"Actually, there needs to be someone to watch the bar while we're out," Meliodas said, "While we're busy trying to win the Gideon, the bar is still going to be open for business to those that don't make it to the next round of the fighting. I think at least three or four of us should stay here," the Dragon Sin said.

"Well, Tsunade-sama could dish out the alcohol, and Shizune-chan can serve it. Hana-chan, Madami-san, Hitomi-san, and Hisui-san can stay and help prepare meals for the patrons who enter," Kushina said in thought.

"That's a good idea. I've been meaning to sample these wines," Tsunade said, rubbing her hands together eagerly.

Finally. A full day of drinking was finally here, she could hardly wait.

"You're not going to be drinking anything Tsunade-sama," Shizune said, shaking her head.

"Fine, ruin my fun," the busty blonde said.

"Alright, operation: retrieve Gideon and Rhitta is a go. Let's have some fun!" Meliodas said grinning.

"Yeah, we're gonna lose, Escanor could wipe the floor with all of us blindfolded," Ban laughed.

"I'm gonna go earn some money to buy some stuff," Hawk said as he walked around the bar and had Elizabeth strap a barrel of ale to him, "Now I can have that extra-large eating bowl when I get done selling this stuff," the pig said happily.

That is if one of the two greedy children _*Cough* _Meliodas and Ban _*Cough* _didn't take the money for themselves and use it.

"Alright, it's time to find Escanor and win this fight festival," Diane said happily.

"Uh, you do realize you're staying here right Diane?" Meliodas asked her.

"Oh go strip a woman's panties off perv," she responded.

"I already did," he winked at her.

"Perv," the giantess grumbled.

"I am no mere pervert, young lady," Meliodas said.

"Oh yeah, if not then what are you?" Mito asked.

"I'm a SUPER PERVERT!" Meliodas cheered out.

-In Konoha; Hotsprings-

In the Leaf Village, a certain pervert that was peeking on the girls' side of the hot springs couldn't help but grin, "I feel a kindred spirit out there, I must meet my brother," he decided to himself.

-Back in Britannia-

"Yep, he's Jiraiya's spawn alright," Tsunade decided.

"I don't think the idea of him meeting Jiraiya-sama is a good one," Shizune whispered into Kushina's ear.

"No doubt, if they did meet all the girls would need to carry a bat or something to stay safe. It's bad enough he took all of our panties back in the forest of white dreams without any of us knowing. I don't think the world can survive two of them," she responded.

"I'll stay here and keep Lady Diane company," Elizabeth said, "You all go have fun at the fight festival," she said waving.

"W-Well, ok. We'll try," King said to the princess.

* * *

_**~Back with Naruto/Escanor and the Princess~**_

Margaret gulped as she took in the sights, it was both beautiful and smelly. Beautiful due to all of the colors and unusual sights she was taking in. Smelly because of all the guys that were sweating up a storm.

It was bad.

However, as Margaret was looking around, Naruto had noticed a person that stood out amongst the crowd and placed a hand on the Princess's shoulder causing her to give a jolt, "Stay calm," he told her before he grabbed a cloak and placed it over the young woman's shoulders, "Cover your head, they can't recognize me in this form so I can hide in plain sight. I won't risk your safety in a place like this," he told the woman.

"Ok, but why all the cloak and dagger stuff Escanor? Why do I have to hide?" she asked him.

"It's simple. Howzer and Griamore are here, and I suspect your sister is running around the village as well," the man told her.

"Huh, they're here?" Margaret gasped as she hurried to cover her head with the cloak's hood, "But how did they find me? I left to search for the Sins in secret," she told her escort.

"I don't think they know you are here, but it is best to be safe rather than sorry," Naruto said.

"Can I even compete in the tournament with them here?" she asked Escanor.

"Only if you can keep yourself covered with that cloak Princess. If not, I doubt that you can remain here as you are," he told Margaret.

"B-But, I thought you were gonna protect me," she whispered out to him.

"I would rather die than let anything happen to you, for if the time for me to reveal myself comes, then I shall do all in my power to keep you out of harm's way. Even if it means using my full power to hurt those close to you, as it is my sworn duty to protect you," Escanor declared.

"E-Escanor…" Margaret whispered as her cheeks began to heat up in a blush.

"Hold on, there's more, look," Escanor said pointing in a direction.

"B-But that's…" Margaret gasped out in shock.

"Ah yes… my former comrades are here as well," Escanor whispered to her. Not only that but so were several people he had been hoping to avoid for the rest of his life. He loved his family, but he didn't want to involve them in his problems, and it was the very problem of his life in the Leaf Village that he had left.

Danzo Shimura had tried to order him to either kill the Fourth Hokage and vote for him to be voted in as the new Hokage, join his ranks of Root Anbu and be his loyal pet, or try to fight him and die. It had only been through sheer luck that he had cut the man's arm off and killed him before he fled the village in order not to arouse suspicion. If it had been revealed that he killed an Elder, he would be branded a traitor for life and executed, regardless of his relation to the Hokage as his son.

It was strange that even in death the man still gave him so much trouble. The only real question he could ask is, why were they here?

"Come, we have to register with the others," Escanor told Margaret.

"Are you sure about this? What if Howzer and Griamore figure out it's me and you?" she asked worriedly.

"That is why there is a thing called an alias," Escanor smiled at her.

"Ok, and just how exactly do you expect me to make an alias if I don't know a good one?" she responded to the man.

"I have a simple one, you are Rosa, and I am Naruto," Escanor said smiling. It was strange, the fact he had to use his actual name rather than the one he had grown so used to for nearly two and a half decades.

"Fishcake, seriously?" Margaret said, trying not to laugh at the name.

"It also means Maelstrom," the man grumbled. No respect at all.

"It's also a ramen topping," the princess snickered.

Escanor grumbled some more before sighing as he said, "Let's just go and sign up. I would like to get this done as soon as possible in order to avoid meeting any of them."

Margaret giggled as she wrapped her arms around one of Escanor's and said, "Alright, I'll stop teasing you. But you have to admit, you had that one coming after all the teasing you've done to me in the past."

Escanor chuckled and said, "Yes, I suppose you're right. Now come on, let's hurry and sign up so that we can enjoy a bit more of the festival before the fights begin."

With that, the two went over to where the fighters were signing up and placed their names. Once they were done, they decided to walk around the festival for a bit to see what they could find. Margaret found several styles of clothing she thought Escanor would like while Escanor found some pieces of jewelry and various perfumes he thought Margaret would like. Though neither of the two bought anything right away since they wanted the other's opinion on which they would prefer.

Margaret showed Escanor some new jackets and shirts that she thought he would enjoy. She was extremely pleased when he said he did enjoy them and would start wearing them after the festival. After that, the two went over to a different stall where Escanor showed Margaret some of the perfumes and jewelry pieces he thought she would enjoy. While he was a little disappointed at missing a few, he was glad that she enjoyed some of the scents and even got some bracelets and hairpieces. As the two had some fun, they soon realized it was almost time for the fights to begin and made their way back to the arena.

As the two made their way to the large arena, which in all honesty was a large rock platform that had been raised roughly a couple meters, the announcer came out and began talking. He was a very tiny man, with a helm covering his face, a cloth that draped from the helm that covered his body, and very thin limbs, which were the only parts of his body not covered.

"Alrighty, is everyone excited!?" the man cheered out causing others to cheer in excitement, "That's what I'm talking about!" the announcer said happily.

This man was Love-helm. He was a 'Holy Knight' in disguise as he searched for the Seven Deadly Sins.

"Everyone! This is the 758th annual Vaizel Fight Festival, so you know what that means! If you win! You win big! If you lose, then you should never have come. This is a fight where all the top dogs come to play rough and show everyone what they're made of!" he announced loudly.

Escanor snorted, none of these people could even come close to being a 'top dog' in his eyes for there was none that could match his strength.

"Everyone that is participating, please step onto the large platform before you. As per the rules, the first round is a preliminary elimination round to determine just who is gonna go onto the further rounds," Love-Helm announced to the people.

Meliodas looked to his friends, "Alright, that means us," he said grinning.

"Just try not to draw too much attention, eh Captain?" Ban said to the man. He was rather upset he had to replace his threads.

"Now who do you think I am? I would never try to purposely blow our cover as mere participants of a Fight Festival when trying to help my friends get their Sacred Treasure back for the fun of it," the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins smiled.

"That's a lie if I ever heard one," King responded to the demon.

"Now that hurts," Meliodas pouted at the comment.

Naruto stood next to Margaret and leaned into her, "Remember, don't go overboard while using your gift, just try to keep a low profile. And whatever you do, stay away from that group of women over there," he said with a bit of bitterness while pointing to the group of Kunoichi next to the sins, "They'll figure your identity out faster than anybody else in this place would. Keep on your toes, and have fun, but make sure to keep your distance unless necessary," he told her.

"Alright, thanks for the info." the woman responded to him.

Mito was looking around to try and see if anybody resembled Escanor, but she wasn't seeing anything, "Does anybody see him?" she asked her group.

"That's a negative big perv," Anko said as she looked around as well.

"Anko, you're the perv. I'm Small Red. Get your head in the game." Mito said in a hiss.

"Ok ok, just trying to provide humor." the snake mistress said.

"Now is not the time." Kurenai said, "If you haven't forgotten, we're here to get the Gideon for Diane and then see if this Escanor person is here so we can find Naruto-san's location. So stop acting immature." she told her friend.

Love-Helm cleared his throat before the ninja could start arguing even more, "Alright, that does it for the entries, let the Elimination round BEGIN!" he chanted loudly as the men began to smash their fists into one another to try and prove their masculinity.

Escanor yawned as he grabbed a man by the face and simply gave a shoulder toss that sent the man sailing out of the ring screaming before he leaned back to headbutt another causing the man to collapse unconscious. He smacked a man in the face as he tried to punch him and the man flew over others' heads and out of the arena as well, "Is there anybody else?" he asked curiously.

Ban grinned as he did a few jabs, "Yeah there we go, much better," he said as he adjusted to the new jacket he had… acquired in a fight a few moments ago.

Meliodas looked at his best friend in confusion, "Uh Ban, where did you get that jacket?" he asked curiously.

"Oh you know me, Captain, I found it lying about and I just didn't like the idea of such a nice set of threads being wasted that way," the Fox Sin said grinning.

Mito kicked another man in the face and sent him rolling out of the arena, "How come, I am the only one being dogpiled by a bunch of perverts!" she yelled before she began to smash her fist into another person's face.

"Ouch, dammit Mito that hurt!" Kurenai said as she held a bloody nose.

"Oops, sorry Kurenai-Sensei," Mito said in embarrassment.

"Yeah Yeah it's alRIGHT!" she shrieked as a large man with blue gloves picked her up by the nape of her dress and she furiously tried to hide her underwear, "Hey, put me down now, I command you!" she yelled at the man furiously blushing in embarrassment.

"Sorry, but less competition is better." the man said before he tossed her out of the arena.

A bit of a distance away a cloaked female watched as a fat blob of a man charged her with his tongue hanging out, "I'm gonna show you a good time sweetheart." he said before laughing, only to find the young woman's fist embedded in his gut causing him to be sent soaring out of the arena and then off the large platform altogether.

"Pervert." the lady sneered angrily.

_*Hiccup*_ An elderly man went as he teetered around drunkenly and managed to avoid elimination. Ah, youngsters needed to learn to respect their elders. He took his bottle that was now empty and threw it down and stepped to the left just as a young brunette woman came rushing at him. He watched in a small amount of satisfaction as she stepped on the bottle and suddenly found herself out of the arena, "Life is a box of chocolates, you never _*Hiccup*_ you never know which kind you'll get." he said smiling before hiccuping once again.

Satsuki Uchiha was not a happy camper, why, because she had somehow been eliminated from a simple preliminary round filled with dumb men by a bottle of all things, "Ohh this sucks!" she yelled out.

King cried out as a large man picked him up by the hood of his jacket, "H-H-Hey let me go right now!" he demanded.

Griamore found himself laughing at the fairy king's attempts to get free, "Sorry kid, no hard feelings." he said before he simply tossed him out of the arena." maybe the kid would have better luck next year.

And soon enough there were only 12 people left in the arena, "Alright that is it for the Preliminary round. All those that are left standing please make your way off and into the little hut right over there for a few minutes while everyone else gets oriented." Love-Helm announced loudly.

Escanor found himself shrugging as he led Margaret, who had managed to stay cloaked somehow, off the large arena, and into the small building, "I hope you are enjoying yourself, Rosa." he said using her fake name.

"You know, I think I am having fun for the first time in a long time," she told him.

Meanwhile, in the seal of one Mito Uzumaki, Kurama felt the familiar presence of her Chakra, and it was very close by. She couldn't tell where exactly as it was very faint, but she could tell it was near.

-In the little shack-

Love-Helm cleared his throat as he entered the building, "Is everyone having a good time or what?" he asked excitedly.

"Oh yeah, this is great," Meliodas said grinning.

"Hell yeah," Kushina said while grinning.

"Alright, that's what I like to hear!" Love-Helm exclaimed while grinning broadly.

"So, what comes next?" Mito asked.

Love-Helm cleared his throat, "As you all know, Round 1 was the Preliminary Event. The preliminary event consisted of a battle royale where participants had to attempt to push opponents out of the ring and off the arena until a set number of participants remained. Competitors are then free to battle anybody and avoid conflict." the short midget said.

"We already knew that, why is he going over the tournament rules and stuff?" Margarett asked Escanor.

"I think this is something he does to remind people who are fighting, but I can't be too sure."

"Oh, ok. That makes sense." the woman said.

"As for the amazing Round 2, it is the main tournament that consists of one-versus-one match-up battles between the 12 competitors who have advanced the preliminary, with the match-ups being decided by drawing lots." he reminded them.

"And how does one determine who is fighting who?" Howzer asked.

"That's easy, you write your name down on a piece of paper here and drop it in this hat, I will then draw names two by two and each set I pull out is the set match until the next round. It's simple." Love-Helm stated happily, as per usual.

"Alright, I guess that doesn't hurt any." the Holy Knight said shrugging. Didn't take a genius for that much.

"Alright, if everyone will please, step forward and take a slip of paper and write their names on it," Love-Helm said to the group.

One by one everyone stepped up and took a piece of paper and placed their name on it and dropped the folded paper into the hat. Once that had been done, Love-Helm then shook the hat around a bit before taking a couple slips of paper out, "First round is…" he read off, "Griamore versus, Matrona." he announced, causing Naruto to raise a brow. Last he checked, Matrona was roughly 30 feet tall, not five feet tall.

"Not bad Griamore, hope you don't hurt the little lady," Howzer said grinning.

"Oh go eat some wasabi," the giant man said grinning. It was his friend's favorite food.

"Second on the list is…" Love Helm said, reaching into the hat once again before he pulled out the paper, "Taizoo versus Howzer." he declared.

"This'll be a piece of cake," Taizoo said grinning.

"Hah, you wish." Howzer snorted. A simple civilian, give him a break.

"After them is…" Love Helm reached into the hat once again, "Naruto Uzumaki," the midget said, getting gasps of shock from the ninja, "Versus Cain Barzard," Love Helm stated grinning.

Mito looked at her mother with shocked and hope-filled eyes as she whispered, "Do you think it's him, mom?"

Kushina was just as shocked and whispered back, "I-I don't know, sweetie. But we can only hope for the best and that it is him."

Anko then joined in on the whispering, "Hold on you two, we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Right now, all we know is that his name is being used. However, you both need to remember, he wasn't treated very well back in the village, so if this is him, he may think we are trying to force him back, which could cause more harm than good. So right now, let's just wait, cause if it is him, we will approach him slowly so as to not scare him off again," Kushina and Mito were about to agree until Anko cut them off, "_BUT! _If this isn't him, and it just turns out to be someone using his name, we will remain calm and simply ask where he learned this name, since even if it isn't him, it's still a lead, alright?"

Kushina and Mito both looked at each other, silently wondering when _Anko_ of all people became the mature one, but then remembered she only likes to _act_ childish. They then realized that Anko had a point and if this was Naruto, then they would need to take their approach slowly, but if it wasn't? Then they at least had a new lead on where Naruto could be.

Looking back at the waiting Anko, Kushina and Mito nodded their heads before saying, "Alright."

With that, the three turned back to Love-Helm who seemed to have been rambling on about previous tournaments, meaning they hadn't missed any information.

"After those two we have…" he then reached into the hat once again, "Meliodafu versus Baan," he announced.

Howzer and Griamore perked up at the names. Now, while the names sounded familiar they weren't exactly the same, but they weren't stupid enough to think it was a real name. Howzer cleared his throat, "Nice name, Meliodafu, Baan." he said grinning at them. The two sins tensed up at his words, he couldn't have figured it out that easily could he?

Griamore nudged his friend, "Dude, mind your own business. Leave them alone and you can talk to them later," he told the dirty blonde haired man.

"Alright, alright you got me," Howzer said, raising his hands in the air.

Howzer cleared his throat once more, "And after them, the next two is, Kushina versus Anko, and lastly it is Mito versus Rosa!" he told the group. "And that is how this is going to go. And since we have an uneven number at the end of this fight, there will be one last match to determine the winner in the semifinals!" he cheered, getting yells of enjoyment from the group.

-A distance away-

The sound of horses walking and men grunting as they pulled something could be heard. At the head of this group, was one violet-colored princess Veronica as she led a large team of men to the Viazal Fight Festival. The current load they were pulling, a large golden ax that belonged to a holy knight of the realm. Veronica marched with purpose and a gleam of hope in her eyes, '_Just hang in there for a little while longer. Lord Escanor. I will not allow any of the Sins to die today.' _the young princess thought to herself.

-A Further distance away-

Guila marched with a purpose, her mission was simple; eradicate the Seven Deadly Sins with no mercy shown. Next to her was her old friend, Jericho. The lavender haired young beauty had been humiliated by Ban the day he had escaped and she had vowed to get back at him one way or another, and if she could be the one to kill an immortal then she would surely be promoted to Holy Knight for sure. She would have her justice, one way or another; she would have it.

-Back at the Fight Festival-

Love-Helm and the others walked out and watched as the men around cheered for the next round, "Round 2 of the Vaizal Fight Festival is soon to be underway, but who shall come out on top of all these monsters?!" he cried out.

Hawk snorted, "Ale, get your high-quality ale here! Only a single shilling for a mug!" he announced.

"Yeah, porky I'll take a mug!" a man cried out.

"Same here!" another said loudly.

"And he just now started advertising he's got booze, Hawk I think you need to learn to prioritize your thoughts," Meliodas said to the pig.

"I think it was a good idea to wait if I hadn't then I would have made little sales rather than the many I just started to make!" the pig shouted.

"Hey, can I get three mugs over here." a man called out.

"Three shillings if you please." the pig said as he took the money and let the man pour his booze.

Love-Helm cleared his throat, "Is everyone ready!?" he cried out getting cheers from the spectators, "Then let the quarterfinals of the Vaizal Fight Fest BEGIN!" he cheered, "Up first is the mighty Griamore of the Liones Holy Knights, versus Matrona!" he announced as the two walked up onto the large platform, "Before we begin, I'm going to have to ask the lady to remove her cloak. As there are no weapons allowed, it is only right to show sportsmanship to your fellow competitors." Love-Helm requested from Matrona.

Matrona didn't hesitate and threw the dark purple cloak off to reveal a startling sight to the members of the Boar Hat, "Isn't that the bar uniform?" King asked in confusion.

"It is, but why would this chick be wearing it?" Mito asked, clearly confused by her attire.

"It's not Elizabeth, she doesn't know how to fight," Hawk said snorting.

"No, but that doesn't mean it can't be one of their friends in disguise," Ban said shrugging.

"It's probably Shizune-san," Satsuki said

She didn't know how wrong she was.

"Now, the rules of the next set of matches are simple. You can win by either forcing your opponent to submit, force them out of the ring, or knocking them out! It's easy to remember so don't let it go to your heads!" Love-Helm declared, "And with that out of the way, let's get this show, underway!" he proclaimed getting cheers from everyone.

Griamore looked to Howzer and grinned, "I think this chick doesn't like me, she hasn't said a word," he said.

"Yeah, it's usually Veronica that does that to you," Howzer said smirking.

"That's _Princess _Veronica, please respect her title Howzer," Griamore said to his friend.

"He stands at a whopping 7 feet tall and weighs in at 400 pounds, it is the Holy Knight; Griamore!" Love-Helm announced as he motioned to the man in question. Then waving a hand towards the lady he called out, "Standing at 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing none of your business, it's Matrona!" he declared.

"At least tell us her measurements?!" Meliodas called out.

Naruto hearing this shook his head, "That is both rude and disturbing," he told himself, "Also, her measurements are 56, 32, 35," he said.

Margaret felt her eyes widen while her cheeks reddened in embarrassment, "How'd you come up with that?" she asked in shock.

"I have no idea," he responded. Maybe the Captain had rubbed off on him somehow?

"And with the introductions finished, let the fight: BEGIN!" Love-Helm declared.

And without even hesitating, Matrona burst forth and began to lay powerful blows into Griamore's gut so hard that blasts of air could be seen arcing off his stomach.

"Holy crap, she's fast!" King said with wide eyes.

"Fast and strong, she's rushed in close, delivering a flurry of blows to Griamore!" Love-Helm announced in glee.

As Matrona continued to lay her fists into her opponent's gut, a purple glow emitted from Griamore's body causing her to stop from shock, "I must not be defeated here," Griamore said honestly, "This isn't personal so I ask for forgiveness," he said calmly, "You should have ended it when you had the chance, for now, you lose. Please witness my Magical Power **Wall," **the Holy Knight declared as a purple ball surrounded his body in a large bubble.

Naruto nodded his head, "Not bad," he said intrigued.

"Yeah, Griamore's gotten so strong these past few years," Margaret said smiling at her friend.

Ban narrowed his eyes, "Judging from the strength of his magic, I would have to wager this guy to be a Holy Knight," Meliodas said.

"Yeah, he usually came with Howzer or Gilthunder when they visited me." King said, "I just hope he or Howzer don't recognize me."

"A little late for that, Sir King," Howzer said from behind the Fairy King.

"AHH!" the fairy cried out jumping in shock, "J-J-Just when did you get there?" he asked in shock.

"Been here for a few minutes actually," Howzer told the knight, "Besides, I have some information you and your fellow sins might want to hear," he told the dark knights of Liones.

"Sure, as long as it doesn't cause a scene," Meliodas said calmly.

"Keep your guard up, Dreyfus is mobilizing to kill all of you. I'm not sure when, but today was just a way of drawing the sins out into the open. My mission is to ensure that you all survive. How you survive, is up to you," he told the small man.

"Thanks for that," Meliodas said smirking.

"Don't mention it," Howzer smiled.

"Hey, you there," Mito said, pointing to Howzer, "Just who are you?" she asked.

"The names, Howzer, and I'm a Holy Knight loyal to the king and the king alone," Howzer said.

"Tell me, do you know of a man named Escanor Pride?" she asked.

"Anybody that lives in these lands knows of the man. He's the strongest man alive for a reason, and his prowess in battle is unmatched by none in these lands or anywhere else for that matter. As far as I'm concerned, any beef you have with him is better off being left alone. You'll die if you try to challenge him to a fight." Howzer said.

"I don't wish to fight him, I wish to find him so that I can locate my elder brother and it's said that he is the only one that knows of his location," Mito responded.

Howzer chuckled, "I hate to break it to you, but the Seven Deadly Sins haven't been seen as a group for roughly the better part of a decade, so anything you think you know about your brother's location is probably old as dirt," he informed her.

"So, care to explain why you want me to do that when the only chance of me finding my brother is possibly here, I'm sorry but I won't be doing that," she said.

"I am only saying that you need to ignore your desire to fight him," Howzer said.

"And my search, you want me to abandon that now? I'm sorry, but the minute I find Escanor, I will get the answers I want, regardless if he is alright or not. So don't tell me I can't, cuz I won't. Also, why are you hiding things, it's clear that you are," she said

"I have to hide things, cuz if I do reveal what I know, then everyone here is in danger. All I can tell you is to stay on guard," he told her before he walked away.

Back in the Arena, Matrona charged towards Griamore's wall and began to smash her fists into it, only to have no luck in getting past it. Griamore sighed and shook his head, "My ability is the manifestation of my resolve to protect the Princess and her family." he told her as he made it grow in size, "I must insist that you leave the ring." he told Matrona.

"OH MY!" Love Helm said excitedly, "Look at that would you, thanks to Griamore's mysterious power, Matrona has been pushed to the edge of the ring!" he announced, "I think Matrona's in big trouble here!" he stated.

"I shall be advancing to the next round." Griamore stated, "If her majesty Princess Veronica were to give the word, I'd make anyone grovel before me! This goes for the Seven Deadly Sins themselves, and their captain!" he declared.

Matrona grunted as she held Griamore's power back using both her hands, "Oh yeah… Like that's ever going to happen!" she said drawing back a fist, and then smashed _through _Griamore's magic barrier shocking everyone present. She then charged through the hole he had made and then jumped up to smash her knee into his chin that threw him up and out of his own power, through the air, and off the large platform to the ground several stories below, thus making her the victor. And as she did this, her hat had somehow fallen off her head.

Matrona raised a finger into the air smirking at her victory. Love-Helm quickly spoke up, "Griamore is out of the ring, the winner is MATRONA!" he declared loudly.

Howzer grinned, "Now that is what you call power. I never thought there could be someone that could break through that ability using their bare hands." he said to himself.

Mito rubbed her eyes, "Hey, are my eyes playing tricks on me?" she asked herself.

"There's no way that could be her!" Anko said in shock.

"Hey guys, isn't that…" Kurenai trailed off.

"Captain, please tell me I'm dreaming?" King asked.

The lass that had defeated Griamore trotted over excitedly, "Oh well, I guess the cats out of the bag." she said grinning as she jumped down to stand beside her friends, "Yep, it's me." she said excitedly.

"Diane?" Meliodas asked her, "How in the heck did you get so small?" he asked.

"Yeah, what happened to you?" King asked.

"Tell us, how did you manage to get to this size?" Ban asked his friend.

"Also, where is Princess Elizabeth?" Kushina asked.

"Yeah, wasn't she with you before we left to come here, I thought she was going to help make some food with the others at the Boar's Hat?" Kurenai asked her.

"I'm here," a soft voice said causing the group to look around in confusion, "I'm right here." Elizabeth's voice said, causing Diane to blush as she grabbed the blue handkerchief over her bust and spread it open causing King to look at the tiny princess in shock.

"Shoc-King!" King declared.

"No way, is that you Princess?" Mito asked in shock.

"She's so tiny," Anko said with wide eyes.

"Eh heh heh," Meliodas giggled perversely.

"Pervert!" Kushina yelled as she smashed her fist down atop the blonde skull.

"You still didn't answer the question, Diane," Kurenai said.

"Let's go somewhere else to discuss this," Diane said before walking away to the small hut that decided the matches.

Upon entering it, Kushina placed a hand to the wall and created a set of silencing seals, "There, it's safe to talk now." she told the group.

"Ok, so, the reason I'm like this is because of a strange giant mushroom," Diane said wincing.

"A giant mushroom?" Meliodas asked.

"Yeah." she said calmly, "In fact, it happened just a couple minutes after all of you left for the festival," she informed the group, "Elizabeth and I had been asked to gather ingredients by Shizune and Mikoto so they could cook so we went out into the forest to search for ingredients." she said recounting what happened, "I think sometime in between Elizabeth scared an animal and she had cried out so I had run over to check and see if she was alright. However, when I got to her there was this strange-looking mushroom. I decided that it'd make a good ingredient to use and so I bopped the top of it and all I remember after that was being sprayed by some strange pollen and being engulfed in it." she told them, "After it cleared away, I was the size of a normal person." she said, shrugging.

"And thus the reason you are wearing Elizabeth's outfit, right, got it," Meliodas said nodding his head.

"Yeah, since we didn't have any clothes that could fit me, I had to come with Lady Diane," Elizabeth said softly.

"And that also explains why you're stuck between her giant knockers." Anko snickered at the sight of the tiny lady.

"Anko, please restrain the vulgarity." Satsuki sighed out.

"It must have been an Eringi Mushroom variant of the Chicken Matango. They're monsters that are cowardly and rarely show themselves and anytime they feel threatened they release spores that shrink living things in size." King said in thought.

"That makes sense," Diane said.

"So, with that out of the way, does anyone want to go back to the fighting festival?" Meliodas asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Ban said grinning.

And with that, the group rushed outside the second Kushina removed the seals. They managed to leave the building just in time to see an exhausted Taizoo fighting against a still fresh Howzer, "Man, I didn't think holding back this much would be so boring," the Holy Knight sighed out, "Is this what Master Escanor felt when he was teaching us as brats?" he asked himself.

Below Naruto snickered, those three brats had more energy in them than a pack of hormonal wolves. It was a wonder they didn't stay awake all hours from the sheer amount they had. Margaret shook her head, "No, I'm sure you had it easy with those three dummies," she said.

"It was still fun," Naruto said grinning at the memories.

"Alright, I guess I can stop torturing you now, sayonara," Howzer said before he punched his fist out and unleashed a massive twister from his hand that launched Taizoo off the arena much like Griamore had been.

"And the winner is, Howzer!" Love-Helm declared, causing the spectators to cheer loudly.

Naruto nodded his head, "It seems Howzer has improved a little, though he could learn some respect towards his elders. I may just have to teach him that." he said scowling.

Howzer felt a shiver run up his spine, '_I don't like this feeling, it feels just like those times I was learning from Master Escanor.' _he thought to himself.

"Alright, up next, we have our own, three-time champion, Naruto Uzumaki!" Love Helm called out, causing the people to cheer loudly as he removed his glasses to bulk up a bit as he handed them to Margaret, "Versus, Cain Barzard the Flame!" he announced.

"Care to explain why you are removing your glasses, Escanor?" Margaret asked.

"It is for a show. Cain Barzard has absolute control over fire, it is time to see which flame burns brighter," he told her.

Meliodas and the other sins felt their eyes widen in shock as a pulse of power washed over them and they looked to Naruto as he walked up onto the arena. Ban gulped as he looked at the hulking figure, "Hey captain, isn't that…" he stopped himself as he just didn't know if he was right or wrong.

"Oi oi oi, is he serious?" King asked in shock.

"Just what in the hell does he think he's doing?" Diane asked herself.

"There's no doubt about it, _that's Escanor!"_ Meliodas declared.

The group of ninja felt their eyes widen in shock. Kushina took a step back as she sensed the man's power, "_That's_ Escanor, he's a monster." she said in shock.

"There's just so much chakra." Satsuki gulped in terror.

"There's no way this guy's a human with that much power," Anko said in surprise.

"Holy shit, he's huge!" Mito said wide-eyed.

"Standing at 8 feet even and weighing in at 600 pounds of pure muscles, it's Naruto Uzumaki!" Love Helm declared as the people cheered as he waved. Love Helm then motioned to the man's competition, "And his opponent for the match, standing at a height of 4 feet 8 inches and weighing in at roughly 150 pounds, it's Kain Barzard!" Love Helm announced.

"Good afternoon, Kain Barzard-dono," Naruto greeted his opponent.

"Naruto Uzumaki, they say you hold incredible durability, I am looking forward to testing that defense," Kain said, surprisingly sober for a man that had been stumbling around the arena a few minutes ago.

"There is only one way to find out, may the best man taste victory," Naruto told his opponent.

"Indeed," Kain responded.

"If both competitors are ready, BEGIN!" Love-Helm called out.

"I aim to finish this as fast as I can, so no hard feelings young man, **Flames of Atlas" **Kain declared as blue flames burst up into existence around his arm, "**Searing Destruction Blast" **Kain called out as he released a powerful wave of fire at his opponent.

Naruto however simply stood still as the flames washed over his body. Kushina felt her eyes widen, "Is he gonna be ok, I don't think even _he_ can withstand such a powerful attack!" she said in shock.

"He'll be fine, if there is one thing you need to do, it's to not ever underestimate Escanor," Meliodas said calmly.

"Oh ho, not bad, but is this all you are capable of?" Naruto asked from inside the fire of his opponent.

"For a young man, you sure are a prideful one," Kain laughed as the fire died down to reveal an unscathed Naruto, "I'm surprised, it seems the stories do you no justice. Not a single scratch from even the holy flames of Atlas himself can pierce your flesh." Kain said in observation.

"Of course not, for even a Titan knows his place when in my presence," Naruto declared, "And that place is beneath me."

Anko snorted, "You know, he sure is arrogant now that I hear his voice," she said.

"Yeah, but I guess being practically immune to fire does that for you. I wonder how come he's not hurt by such a devastating attack. Even I could feel my own body wanting to cry in fear," Mito said.

"Escanor is immune to all forms of fire no matter what type. It's one of the main reasons that when I fought him I had such a hard time," Meliodas said seriously.

"So, how did you beat him exactly?" Kushina asked.

"He flashed Merlin's tits to him," Diane said as she punched her Captain on the back of his head.

"Ok, not gonna lie, that's a dirty trick," Kushina snickered.

"Yeah, but it's effective!" Ban laughed hard.

Naruto raised a finger and a ball of golden flame burst into existence, "I thank you for the entertainment, Kain Barzard-dono, but I think it is time I stop playing around. This is my Magical Power, **Sunshine, **and I am allowing you but a glimpse of its true glory," he told the elder, "**Solar Tide," **he declared as the ball of flame burst apart into hundreds of smaller orbs and rushed to hit his enemy.

"I'm old, but I'm not weak. **Bomb Blast Dance!" **Kain declared as he inhaled deeply and released a tidal wave of flame from his mouth that once it came into contact with the golden flames, caused an explosion of extreme heat that engulfed both of them.

As the heat died down and the air cleared both could still be standing, "Oh ho, so you are unharmed by my attack. How impudent of you." Naruto said as he raised his palm, "It seems I must show you a little bit more," he said more to himself than to Kain.

"Hmph, you're not half bad, young man," Kain said snickering to himself as he produced a ball of flame in his palm.

"**Cruel Sun" **Naruto declared as he expanded the ball of flame.

"**Endless Scorch" **Kain declared as the flames turned white.

"I believe it is time to end this, I would rather not harm anybody," Naruto said calmly.

"I must agree, young man, but tell me something, why are you hiding from your past?" he asked curiously.

"It is so that others may live in the light, that I shall give them." Naruto declared.

"I see, it's nice that you are willing to go so far for those you care about," Kain said smiling softly at the man, "If that is the case, then I must declare I forfeit the match. I am no equivalent to this young man." Kain said as he let his power fade away and watched as Naruto allowed his own to fade from existence.

"The winner by forfeit, Naruto Uzumaki!" Love-Helm called out.

Everyone began cheering as they were amazed by such an incredible display of fire and strength, however, several people were excited and scared about getting the chance to face this "Naruto" person.

And it wasn't just the sins, as even Howzer was feeling a bit excited at the chance to face his old teacher once again. Though a good majority of what he felt was fear at getting his ass handed to him again. For the kunoichi, however, they were _only_ excited as they finally found the person they were looking for and hoped that he would be able to help them find the one they were searching for.

As Escanor stepped down off the platform, he gently took his glasses back from Margaret and placed them back on, allowing his monstrous power to go back to sleep. After all, being around regular people and humans, his magical power would cause them to slowly get burned as they couldn't handle the heat that he gave off. Even Holy Knights and the other Sins had issues powering through the heat, but at least they can hold up better than regular people.

"Whatever happened to, 'low-profile,' hmm?" Margaret asked with a look.

Escanor chuckled while rubbing the back of his head and said, "I apologize, however, every time I've competed in the festival, I always take my glasses off, since I would rather their image of 'Naruto Uzumaki' is of a giant rather than a regular man. Besides, how do you think I have been able to avoid being recognized?"

Margaret was about to retort but then realized how right Escanor was, since thanks to his magic, his body will change depending on the time of day. Meaning that so long as he doesn't let anyone see him changing, then he'd be fine. However, there was one thing she had to bring up.

"And no one has recognized your mustache?" Margaret asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked back at him, only to see he was looking at her with a pair of eye smiles and a full-on beard with the mustache.

"What mustache? I will have you know this is no mere mustache but a beard _and _a mustache," Escanor told her with a bit of flare that caused her to begin giggling before he joined in with her as he took off the fake beard.

"But in any case," Escanor said as the duo calmed down, "No, most people don't seem to recognize my mustache, since most of the time, whenever they fight me, they're too busy watching my attacks than to focus on my face. Plus, any person who did take the time to look at my face, usually didn't stay alive for very long, since they lost focus," Escanor finished with a shrug.

Margaret nodded her head and said, "I guess you've got a point there."

"I hope this match is entertaining, my last bout could hardly be called fun," Naruto sighed.

"You only say that because it's you," Margaret said.

Kushina gulped as she looked at Escanor, could this be her chance to talk to him? However, before she could make a move Meliodas held a hand up in front of her, "Huh, what is it Meliodas?" she asked him.

"He's standing beside someone, a female if the body size and stance the person standing in indicates something," he said, "That means we all have to be cautious when we go over there. The fact that five of the Seven Deadly Sins have gathered in one spot can easily paint a major target onto our back," he told her.

"Alright, so what should I do?" she asked him.

"It's simple, we all go over to him," Meliodas said.

However, before that could happen, Love-Helm called out, "And now it is time for the next match!" he declared.

"Uh, Captain, I think it's our turn," Ban said grinning.

"Let's do it!" Meliodas cheered as he and his comrade jumped up onto the rock platform for their match.

Needless to say, the match was both amazingly brutal and showed just why Ban had earned his title as Undead Ban, but it also showed just why the two men were considered to be two of the strongest men in the land of Britannia. Meliodas had seemed to lose all strength before he had been struck by a super-empowered Ban but it was strange that Meliodas had pulled the win. Of course, Elizabeth had nearly blown their cover, but hey she was a caring person.

Love-Helm cleared his throat and announced, "And Meliodafu is the winner!" causing people to cheer for him.

"Alright, who's next?" Kurenai asked.

Love Helm was fast to announce the next match, "Up next, it is Kushina versus the Sexy and Single Snake Mistress Anko!"

"Seriously, that's what you put down on your paper, Anko?" Kurenai asked her

"Hey, why ruin a good thing?" Anko asked shrugging.

"Ban shook his head, "It's not a good thing to advertise your single," he told her.

Kushina appeared in the arena using a Shunshin and Anko merely hopped up after her, "Hope you're ready to be schooled Anko," she told the younger woman.

"Oh please, save the banter for someone that cares. I just want to have a good time," the Dango-loving woman said smirking at her colleague.

"Let the match, BEGIN!" Love-Helm declared.

The two ladies burst forward and engaged in a furious battle of taijutsu, moving around and about the arena in fast flurries. Almost like Meliodas and Ban had before them, their hits were fast and loud to show that they were both serious. Anko slid back as she was kicked in the stomach and her hand transformed into a bunch of snakes, "**Striking Shadow Snake Hand" ** she called out.

"Oh wow, I didn't know she could do that," King said in awe as he watched Kushina cut the snakes apart using a Kunai.

"Not bad Anko, but next time, pay attention to an enemy's hands rather than their movements," Kushina said before she raised her hand in a half ram seal, "**Sealing Jutsu: Restrict" **she chanted as a bunch of black lines appeared and glowed across her body causing the Snake Mistress to cry out in shock as she fell, "It's my win," she said smirking.

"And it's over in a flash, Kushina has taken the victory!" Love Helm declared.

"That was fast, I didn't even see her applying the seals to her body," Mito said.

"Then again, your mom is a Kage level Kunoichi so she could have done it anytime she felt like," Satsuki said.

"That is true, but still that fight couldn't have lasted for more than three minutes," Mito said in observation.

"Meh, you win some you lose some," Kurenai said as she watched the two women get off the stage.

"And for the final round of the quarterfinals, it's Rosa versus Mito!" Love Helm said loudly.

Naruto held his hand out, "Remember, be careful. Just because you have a high aptitude for electricity does not mean you have the means to beat all and win all the fights you find yourself in," he told Margaret, "Now hand me your cloak," he told her as he held his hand out.

"B-But I thought you said to keep it on no matter what?" she asked in shock.

"It's probably already too late. Howzer has more than likely reported my position of being here. Not only that, but the other sins are here as well and each of them are exceptional sensors for people's auras." he told her, "Come on, it'll be fine." he told her calmly.

"Alright fine, but don't expect anything flashy," she said to him as she removed her cloak and handed it to him.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Naruto responded to her.

"Hold on a second, isn't that…" King asked in shock.

"B-Big sister!" Elizabeth cried out in shock.

"BIG SISTER?!" the ninja cried out in shock.

"Yes, but I thought she was still in Liones, not here. How is this possible?" Elizabeth asked herself.

"It's possible that she fled at the same time you did," Ban said in thought.

"Maybe, but still I didn't think I would see her here," Elizabeth said to herself.

"Hold on folks, Before we get into this, please turn your attention to behind you!" Love-Helm declared to the crowd.

Turning around, the crowd saw what looked to be a small army of soldiers and horses and they were dragging something behind them. However, they also saw the large cloud of smoke coming from behind the soldiers and this was a clear indicator that the object must have been incredibly heavy. Soon, the soldiers made it to the platform and began unhooking all the horses, with the horses pretty much dropping to the ground in exhaustion. It was now that everyone could see that the object was a giant piece of stone, however, that isn't what drew everyone's attention.

What drew everyone's attention was the weapon that seemed to have been embedded into the stone. It was the massive axe that was stabbed into the stone that had drawn everyone's attention, "Behold, the Divine Axe Rhitta. Said to be the strongest of any weapon to have ever been made, but be warned, only the strongest can even remotely lift this weapon!" Love-Helm announced.

Everyone was shocked at the legendary weapon being here, as many had heard tales of the Seven Deadly Sins' Escanor using the weapon. Anko and the other ninja looked at the axe in confusion, "Holy crap, it's huge!" Mito said in shock.

"As expected of the Sacred Treasure of the Seven Deadly Sins strongest member," Howzer said grinning.

"Hey, why is the design so strange, aren't axes supposed to be two-handed?" the Snake Mistress asked.

"Usually yes, but in this case, it's a one-handed axe," Meliodas said.

"One-handed, but why?" she asked.

"Don't know, but if I had to guess, I think it's because Escanor uses a lot of brute strength that can make even a dragon king look tame," Meliodas said shrugging at her.

Veronica stepped forth, "My name is Veronica Liones, second princess to the kingdom of Liones' throne. This weapon is the Divine Axe Rhitta as you all know and heard of. The man that uses this axe in battle is said to have no equal, and if the winner of this tournament wishes, then he or she has the right to take either the Gideon hammer that once belonged to Diane the Serpent Sin of Envy or this here axe as their prize," she announced.

"I wouldn't want to take that axe even if it was used by God himself, that thing is supposed to have only one master and I don't want to invoke the man that uses it," a man said.

"That may be true, but the axe is made up of 35 tons of pure gold while the blade is made up of pure platinum inlaid silver. That makes it worth approximately half of the gold reserves in the royal vault, if not more," she said to the man.

The ninja felt their eyes widen in shock, "He can carry that much weight in a single hand? This guy is _so_ not human," Anko decided then and there.

"I think Tsunade would be drooling to get her hands on that thing," Satsuki said looking at the blade in the stone.

Meliodas nodded and said, "Well, if I can guess her personality from what I've seen and heard, then she must like gambling a lot. So I would have to agree with you, she would be incredibly happy at winning that axe, though, that would all depend on if she could lift it."

"Ok, can I ask something without trying to sound stupid?" Kushina asked.

"You technically just asked a question, but I guess it wouldn't hurt." Ban snickered.

"Just how in the nine levels of hell, does your friend lift that heavy thing?" she asked, ignoring the shot at her intelligence.

"He's Escanor." the four said dully at the same time.

"That's not an answer!" Anko cried out.

Veronica looked up to the arena and sighed, "Margaret, what are you doing up there?" she asked her.

"Margaret, what are you talking about, I'm Rosa." Margaret tried to lie and failed horribly at it.

"Margaret, we both know that is a lie, and besides you are terrible when it comes to lying. So, what are you doing up there, much less here of all places?" Veronica asked her.

"Uh, Elizabeth, who's this Margaret chick supposed to be, I thought her name was supposed to be Rosa or something?" Kushina asked the shrunken girl.

"It's my eldest sister's real name. But it's the violet haired one you need to worry about, her Magic ability is called **Sight **as it allows her to view the future for any length of time. Margaret may be fast, but even my sister can't beat my elder sister Veronica's ability." Elizabeth said, shivering as she looked at her elder sister.

"So we have not only the next in line for the throne, but the one after her as well," Anko sighed, "This is just great, now what are we gonna do?"

"If this princess is as strong as you say, then how are we gonna get past her to speak with Escanor?" Satsuki asked.

"I don't know, but I think he has already figured it out," Meliodas said pointing to Escanor who had donned the cloak and had stepped up to the princess.

"Princess Veronica, if I may, she has been my traveling companion for these last few days and has been telling me that she has desired to fight in the fighting festival. If it were alright, would you permit her to participate?" he asked her calmly. He had hidden amongst the crowd but he couldn't be too sure if she knew it was him.

Veronica felt her eyes glaze over before she gulped. She knew now, just who stood in front of her, "I do not see why she cannot stranger-san, but she must know that even if she wins the festival she cannot take these two weapons if she chooses them, back to Liones." she said.

"Then I do not see a problem here," Escanor said before looking to the arena, "If it would please everyone, can we please start this match!" he called out loudly getting cheers from the others that wanted to watch.

"Alright, then let the final match of the quarterfinals: BEGIN!" Love-Helm announced loudly.

Hawk walked over to the princess, "A mug of ale princess, it's only a single shilling." he said to her.

Veronica giggled, "I guess it couldn't hurt, thank you Mr. pig," she said holding out a piece of gold, "I'll take the barrel for some of my men so please, take this as payment." she said placing the money in his pouch.

"Oh thank you, this is very generous of you." the pig said happily as he rushed to give the princess's men a drink.

Veronica then stepped up next to the cloaked Escanor, "So, care to explain how it is I managed to meet you here of all places?" the man asked her, "And with my axe of all things?" he continued.

"Grandmaster Hendrickson has found out that this year's fight festival is a trap and sent men loyal to the king alone to get your weapon and bring it to you. However, we did not know that the other Sins were going to be here," she said simply.

Naruto nodded his head, "I see, thank you for doing this. I can only do so much without my axe, so this is a welcome sight." he told her.

"Don't mention it." the lady smiled back at him.

"Of course. Now, if you'll please excuse me, I must go before anyone gets suspicious of me," he said before walking off.

Margaret looked at Mito, "Just because I am a princess, does not mean I wish for you to go easy on me," she told her.

"I wouldn't have it any other way your majesty," she responded.

"Thank you. As for my ability, it is called **Flash, **so I must ask you to use all of your strength to see if you can match up to me," Margaret said before she vanished in a flash of speed.

"So fast!" Mito gasped before she hunched over due to Margaret slamming her fist into the young woman's stomach.

Mito was given no time to rest as Margaret began to lay into the Uzumaki woman with super-fast punches and even a few kicks, "**Flash" **Margaret declared before she vanished into thin air, a spark of electricity being left behind in her place. Appearing above Mito she appeared above her and waved her hand and chanted, "**Lightning Spree" **and her hand expelled several thick bolts of lightning that resembled a tri-star shuriken. The lightning raced down towards the ground, but Mito wasn't all that weak as she had to thank Kurama for rapidly healing her.

She was fast, this princess.

"Alright, my turn, **Wind Style: Vortex!" **Mito said channeling her chakra and expelled it all out of her tenketsu points in her body.

Margaret grunted as not only, was her lightning dispersed, but she was buffeted by gale-force winds, "**Gold Shining" **she declared before she vanished and struck Mito before a flash of light engulfed the Uzumaki.

"I honestly can't believe this chick is putting up such a fight, and she's so fast too," Satsuki said with wide eyes.

"That's because of the Princess's magic, **Flash.** It allows her to move at incredible speeds and use lightning as well to enhance her reaction times and give her powerful lightning attacks," Meliodas informed the kunoichi as they all watched the fight continue.

"It sounds almost like the Raikage's Lightning Armor," Kurenai said in observation.

"Oh, how does it work?" Meliodas asked.

"The user usually coats their entire nervous system in a coat of lightning and then expels it out of their body. It increases their speed by a large amount and hardly anyone can ever match them in terms of speed. The last person to do so was my ex-husband," Kushina said.

"That's pretty neat. I haven't heard of a human being able to coat their nerves in lightning as its usually pretty dangerous," the demon prince said and winced when he watched Mito take a kick to the face.

"Yeah, it's extremely difficult to do so and if the person is good enough, then they become very powerful due to it," Kushina said.

"**Earth Style: Earthen Rampart!" **Mito called out as several spikes of earth popped up from the ground and shattered to pieces and then shot at Mito who hung in the air.

"I'm not done yet, **Lightning Spree" **Margaret cried out as she waved her hand and several bolts of lightning tore through the projectiles before impacting the ground and bursting, filling the air with smoke. Landing on the arena platform, Margaret waited for the dust to disperse and curse when she felt the air behind her shift and she used flash to escape from harm as Mito slammed her fist into the ground where she once stood, the arena cracking apart even more than it already was thanks to the previous fights. She appeared by the edge of the arena and she cursed when several spikes of earth rose up in front of her and surrounded her, "Dammit." the princess cursed.

"Give up, my main affinity is Earth, but I am capable of using all five elements and am very capable of using other elements too. I'll admit it took a bit of thinking but I noticed something, you can only move in a linear fashion, so I had to be fast to cut off your movements," she told the princess.

Margaret sighed, "I guess I have no choice, I forfeit the match," she said to Love-Helm.

"And the winner is, Mito!" the man declared loudly.

Everyone began to cheer loudly as they all were excited for such an amazing display of fights and then the additional prize of another Sacred Treasure being added to the prize. Love-Helm then began announcing, "Alright, and with that, we have reached the end of the Quarterfinals! Tomorrow, we will hold the Semi-Finals and then the end of the tournament to mark the end of the Vytal Festival, so be sure to come back tomorrow!"

With that, Love-Helm seemed to have vanished all of a sudden before everyone began to walk away to enjoy the last few hours of the festival before turning in for the night. However, when the kunoichi and the Sins tried to see if they could meet up with Escanor to talk with him, he seemed to have simply vanished with both Princess Margaret and Princess Veronica. The group sighed, the Sins partially out of relief at not risking the chance that Escanor would fight them, while the kunoichi sighed out of sadness at missing the opportunity to try and get the lead on Naruto.

But, they all knew that they could talk to him tomorrow and that they would have a better shot at one of them getting to the finals with him, which then he would have no choice but to talk to them. However, nobody was aware of the events that would occur the next day or the next events that would follow, but they would soon learn. After all, the key to all of their goals, their survival, and the survival of the kingdom, would rely on the shoulders of the one known as the _**Strongest Man in the World. **_

_**CAN THE DARKNESS THAT IS DESCENDING BE DISPELLED BY HEAVENLY LIGHT, OR SHALL IT ENGULF THE ENTIRE WORLD BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE?**_

* * *

**Hello everyone!**

**I am **_**SO**_ **sorry about the long wait. I have just been going through a lot from my ADHD to school, to also helping with things around the house a lot more. However! I am so happy that I have people to help me, like the amazing Adventreader221 or as he now goes by, Jaeger-Maester-97. Trust me when I say, that if it wasn't for his help, I have no idea how long this would have taken me, so be sure to go check him out too as he makes a bunch of amazing fics.**

**Also, I know me apologizing isn't good enough, so I have decided that I will be updating several of my stories to make up for it.**

**Not sure what else needs to be said, except to favorite, follow, and review and make sure to check out Jaeger-Maester-97.**

**So I will see you all next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I will see you all next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I apologize for the incredibly long wait, but it is finally here, chapter 4 is out, and I couldn't be happier.**

"We're gonna turn it out till it gets too hot." Normal speech

"_Everybody sing, hey-o." Past speech_

"**Tell 'em turn it up till they can't no more." Bijuu/Powerful Being/Demon speech**

'_Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball.' Normal thought_

'_**This is your last warning, a courtesy call.' Bijuu/Powerful Being/Demon thoughts**_

Previous lines are lyrics from the rock song, "Courtesy Call," by Thousand Foot Krutch. I would suggest looking up the song if you haven't heard it before, or looking up the band.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Seven Deadly Sins, those are owned by Masashi Kishimoto and Nakaba Suzuki, respectively.

* * *

**(Play Epic Seven: Promise)**

**(Sinking, falling into despair a hand reached out and broke through my fears**

**when I was lost, you found me, showed me kindness, set me free, and still**

**I remember)**

_**(A group of people is prominently seen, though their forms are shadowed expressively to be unable to show who they are.)**_

**(Now I can hear you**

**When I close my eyes**

**I can feel your hand in mine)**

_**(The darkness begins to spread, when suddenly, a blinding light explodes into existence, expelling the darkness to reveal the ninjas of Konoha. The group turns to see a hulking Escanor holding Rhitta, a massive sun burning brightly behind him as he glares ahead at an unseen enemy)**_

**(Now I can hear you**

**I can find you**

**Finally, I realize)**

_**(Escanor kneels and holds his hand out to the screen, a soft smile growing on his face. However, a massive explosion causes him to turn around as a jet of fire makes its way towards the group. A flick of his wrist and his sun easily overpowers the flame and disperses them.)**_

**(For you I promise, I promise I'll never forget**

**Every moment that we spent together)**

_**(The people are running around frantically while Meliodas, Ban, King, and Diane all walk up to stand next to Escanor. The five then burst forward as they charged forward before a creature appeared in front of them.)**_

**(Promise, I promise I'll hold my head high**

**Here together standing under the seventh sky)**

_**(The five of them all launch an attack that causes the beast to fall while people begin cheering before Meliodas suddenly spasms as his eyes turn blank and the picture zooms into Meliodas' eye.)**_

**(When the end feels so far out of reach and the path is long and you want to retreat, just know that I'm there with you together we will make it through the dark, and we will rise up)**

_**(Escanor is now standing in front of Margaret, and Elizabeth while he holds Rhitta and glares at a group of shadowed figures. While one is shown with purple, ringed eyes another is Meliodas who smirked evilly while he had the demon mark on his forehead and was covered in clothing made from darkness.)**_

**(For you I promise, I promise I'll never forget**

**Every moment that we spent together)**

_**(Escanor suddenly charges while Ban snatches Elizabeth and Margaret back while the shadow group charges as well with Meliodas and the ring-eyed person leading the charge before Meliodas and Escanor clash weapons which is when a bright explosion occurs and causes everything to go white.)**_

**(Promise, I promise I'll hold my head high**

**I'll be there I swear  
**_**(Promise, Promise) (Promise, Promise)  
**_**That we spent together  
**_**(Promise, Promise)**_**)**

_**(Suddenly, a pair of blue eyes snapped open to show Escanor sitting on top of a mountain as he stares at the sun until his image shimmered as it was briefly replaced with that of a young man with spiky, blonde hair and whisker marks before he smirked as it stopped and he turned to look at the group of ninjas, and fellow Sins who all smiled with him as the looked at the setting sun while the sun glinted off of Rhitta.)**_

**(I'll hold my head high**

**Here together standing under the seventh sky)**

* * *

_**~Chapter 4: Festival Continues, Plans, and An Attack!~**_

The group of Meliodas and his companions as well as the Kunoichi from the Elemental Nations left the fight festival with their heads low, for some of them at least, and others with their heads held high. Kushina sat down at a table inside the Boar hat with a huff, "I don't understand how someone so big can move so fast," she said to herself.

"I didn't know Escanor-san could be so strong," Satsuki said in admiration.

"So, what seems to have all of you in the dumps?" Mikoto asked as she brought them some food.

"To be honest? A lot," Kushina answered.

"Yeah, and then there's the fact that apparently, there's more to this fight than meets the eye," Anko said to her.

"Could you tell us? I mean we did miss out on the festivities to serve alcohol," Hitomi said smiling.

"Ok, first off, these Sins? Easily Kage Level fighters. Ban and Meliodas nearly destroyed the arena they were fighting on. Those two idiots nearly killed each other in appearance but they were only sparring at most. Oh, and apparently, there is a large mushroom that shrinks people and it hit both Diane and Elizabeth and so Diane, being bored, decided to join the festivities," Kushina said huffing.

"Did she do any fighting?" Madami asked her.

"Fighting isn't the word I would use, more like utterly annihilating her opponent," Mito said laughing.

"I almost felt sorry for her opponent," Satsuki laughed out at the memory.

"Not Diane?" Hitomi asked.

"Oh yeah, that girl is as strong as Tsunade-sama," Kurenai said crossing her arms.

"Really?" Tenten asked her, "I know she's strong, but that strong? Come on," she said incredulously to the woman.

"She is. In fact, she might actually be stronger," Mito said.

"So, was that all that happened today?" Hitomi asked the group of women.

"No, we saw Escanor," Anko said to her.

"Really?" Mikoto, Hitomi, and Tenten asked them.

"Is he as strong as the sins said he was?" Shizune asked the girls.

"Yeah, and if you think Meliodas, Diane, King, and Ban were monsters, this guy is worse," Kushina said motioning to the Sins in question, "Than those four put together," she told them shivering as she remembered Escanor's nigh unlimited power.

"I'm almost afraid to ask how so, but tell me how so?" Mikoto asked.

"He is powerful, like super powerful. He managed to take a full-on fire attack that looked equal to a **Great Fireball Jutsu** and come out unscathed," Satsuki said as she recounted the sight.

"That's impossible! He'd be a pile of ash!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Not this guy, apparently he's immune to fire," Mito said to her friend.

"How'd he manage to become immune to flames? That has to be an overpowered ability," Hitomi asked her.

"Nobody knows except the sins, probably, but he just stood there and acted as if it were a nice breeze blowing. Sure, he lost most of his shirt, but he didn't even seem shocked by it. And his ability, **Sunshine? **Don't even get me started, one attack had enough chakra in it to rival the combined force of Mito, Satsuki, Anko, Jiraiya, Me, Meliodas, Ban, Diane, King, and a couple of Holy Knights that participated in the match combined," Kushina said to the shocked trio.

"He has _that _much Chakra!?" Tenten cried out, "If anyone had that much chakra, they'd burst from chakra overload," she said in shock.

"Not this guy. Remember? His power rises and falls like the sun, so he must have something unique that allows him to handle all that power. It's still amazing that anyone, let alone a mere human can be that strong," Kurenai stated.

"It's almost like he's as strong as Lord Hashirama if he has that much power. Remember the stories in class? How, Lord Hashirama-sama had enough Chakra to match several of the Kage simultaneously? This could be a similar thing," Satsuki said in thought.

"Not likely," Hana Inuzuka stated as she walked over, "If he's as strong as you say he is, then there must be some way to get him to answer the question of where Naruto is," she said.

"Hana, you don't get it. This guy was holding back," Mito said loudly, "He was wearing sealing items that suppressed his power, and the minute he took them off his power skyrocketed to levels that caused even the other sins began to cower. Meliodas himself has said that there is no person alive that can match him unless it is a certain time of day. And even then, she has to be really quick to beat him," she told her friend's sister.

Shizune came over and sat down next to the ladies, "So the question is, how do we get him to reveal Naruto's location?" she asked.

"It's rather simple. He's overconfident," Hitomi said.

"And how do you know this?" Anko asked her friend.

Kurenai sighed out in annoyance, "Remember, Meliodas and the other Sins have confirmed and have told us, he is arrogant and believes his power is the greatest in all the lands. So, by tricking him into revealing Naruto's location we can simply get our things and go find the little trouble maker," the red-eyed beauty said.

"But it's not that simple," Mikoto said, it was starting to look like a plan was forming, but even the greatest plans could go bad, "He is simply too strong for any of us," she pointed out.

Hitomi nodded her head, "And that is the only problem I am seeing so far," she said.

"Maybe my mom and I could bind him using the Adamantine Sealing Chains," Mito offered.

"It's possible, but we don't know how it will affect the people here. They use a less potent form of Chakra, and as far as we know Escanor is the only one that has figured out how to channel his chakra to fight," Tenten pointed out.

"That doesn't matter, the chains can seal off chakra no matter how potent. If it is made of chakra or uses it, it can be cut off," Kushina stated.

She would not miss the chance to find a lead on her son, no matter what the odds were.

* * *

_**~Meanwhile~**_

Escanor sighed happily as he leaned back in his wagon, "Today was a good day," he said, shaking a bag of coins he had proffered from his wares. He had not only made it to the next round of the festival, he was the strongest after all, but he had also managed to sell his wares before the end of the day. Man, Bernia Ale sure was a divine blessing for him to invest in.

"So, Escanor, any idea on what you're gonna do after this Fight Festival?" Margaret asked him softly.

"Try to go back to living in my tavern, but something tells me that's highly unlikely for me now," he said to her.

"That'd be correct," a new voice said from behind him, causing the duo to turn and see a slightly agitated Veronica Liones tapping her foot impatiently, "So, care to tell me why you are out of the palace Margaret, and with a notorious criminal of all people?" she asked her big sister.

"I'm a grown woman, and I'm capable of handling myself just fine thank you," Margaret said to her _little _sister adamantly.

Escanor raised a brow, is that what she thought a few days ago when they had encountered each other, she was scared out of her mind and looked ready to pee herself.

Veronica snorted, "Uh-huh, and I'm a Fairy King in disguise, Margaret," Veronica said before she walked over and grabbed her sister's hand, "Come on, the others will want to know where you have been and how healthy you are," she told her.

"I don't think so, I'm the _eldest,_ or have you forgotten that much Veronica?" she asked, ripping free from her little sister's grasp.

Veronica sighed, "No, I haven't forgotten Margaret, but I am still your sister. Besides, how can you trust a criminal like him, especially him?" she asked her sister.

Margaret snorted, "You forget that before he became a criminal he was both a knight and a prince before his kingdom was destroyed almost 15 years ago," she responded.

"It doesn't matter, we were told to avoid them, and you disobeyed father's wishes just like Elizabeth has done," Veronica said.

"Lizzy? She's here?" Margaret asked her sister.

"Yes, she's here, and with the Captain of the Sins at that," Veronica stated.

"There you are Princess Veronica," a masculine voice said, "I was worried you had gotten lost. Did you perhaps forget why we were told to come here in the first place?" the voice asked her, causing them to turn and see Griamore.

"Ah, Griamore-kun it has been too long, my student. Where are those other troublemakers of your group, Gilthunder-kun, and Howzer-kun? You have gotten big since I last saw you," Escanor smiled.

"Master Escanor, it is a pleasure to see you once more," the giant of a man bowed, "As for Howzer, he is lurking about and ensuring nobody overhears the conversation between us," Griamore told his mentor, "As for Gilthunder, he's being forced into submission through Vivian, Dreyfus has some type of spell placed on her that makes her obey him. Somehow, my father has used her as leverage against poor Gilthunder, and now he's practically a dog on a leash due to this," the hulking man told Naruto.

Escanor sighed, "How unfortunate for the lad," he stated, "You said that the three of you had a mission and it involved me, how does bringing my Sacred Treasure to me involve your mission?" he questioned.

Griamore cleared his throat, "This year's Fight Festival, it's a trap for the sins. Somehow Dreyfus has found out that you would be here and has sent a contingent of knights to take you out. What he didn't take into account was for the other sins appearing, with you out of the picture the hunt for the other's could begin and we could eventually eliminate the whole order," he told the man honestly.

"I know that much, Veronica-sama explained it to me earlier today, and who told you to retrieve my ax?" he asked.

"Hendrickson ordered those loyal to the king alone and had us bring it here," Veronica answered before Griamore could, "A way to help you along your journey back to redemption and freedom. Also, there are other plans in motion, but we don't know what all they are, but if the rumors are to be believed, he plans on starting a Holy War to throw the realm into chaos," the princess said.

"That's horrible," Margaret said in horror.

"Many of us agree, but currently, we just aren't strong enough to fight the numbers that Dreyfus has amassed to his side," Griamore said.

"If the things you say are true, then we must warn the sins immediately," Escanor said.

Margaret felt her eyes widen, "B-But you said we had to avoid them at all costs," she stated.

"Your identity has already been revealed, and the Sins already know me by my power signature and look. Their companions are no different," he said to the princess and then looked to Griamore and Veronica, "Veronica-sama, Griamore-kun. Go get Howzer-kun and meet us at the traveling bar the Boar's Hat. There is stuff we must discuss," he ordered as he grabbed Margaret by the hand and climbed into his wagon, "Please, meet us as soon as you can at the tavern," he told them as he urged the horse on and watched as it took off at a light trot.

"Escanor, what's the matter? You're acting strange right now," Margaret said to him.

"I'll explain everything once we meet up with the other sins my lady, but for right now, trust your protector in what he is doing," he stated as the horse was urged to turn a corner.

"Escanor, slow down please, I might fall off," Margaret pleaded.

However, what she didn't expect was for Escanor to reach around and suddenly yank her around to sit in front of him, "Is that better milady?" he asked her.

Margaret felt her eyes widen as her cheeks heated up in embarrassment, "I-It's fine Escanor, just please be careful with me up here, would you?" she asked him.

Escanor didn't respond as he jerked the reign's to the left, "Hyah, hyah!" he urged the horse as he slapped the reign's on the beast's neck to get it to break into a gallop.

* * *

_**~Boar's Hat~**_

"This is very strange indeed, a mushroom that can shrink living organisms with microscopic spores," Tsunade said as she checked Diane and Elizabeth over.

"It was both exciting and unexpected, though the shrinking part was definitely not planned," Diane told the busty blonde.

"Hmm, I may have to take some spore cells from both of you to see if I can make an elixir that can reverse the effects of the shrinking, maybe even make a serum that can allow for the same effects so you can spend more time with us down here," Tsunade muttered while Diane looked excited at the thought of being able to stay small for longer periods, "Though, I would need more knowledge about this continent and its various creatures and the energy you all use."

"Well, Sir King said the effects weren't harmful, but I don't think he mentioned if they would be permanent," Elizabeth said.

"Well, I wanna make sure nothing harmful is happening to the both of you with those spores covering you. Could the two of you hold out your arms please?" Tsunade said as she grabbed a scroll from her pack and unfurled it.

"Of course," Diane said as she placed her arm on the top of the table while Elizabeth merely stuck her arm out for the blonde.

A puff of smoke later and a set of medical tools and a microscope were laid out. Diane looked at the equipment in curiosity, "These are some strange things. Not even Merlin had these when she was working," the shrunk giantess said looking at it all.

"I believe it is due to the technological differences that separate the two continents," Tsunade said as she took a cotton swab and dabbed it in some alcohol and then wiped Diane and Elizabeth's arms before she placed the swabs under the lens of the microscope.

"So, what exactly do these things do?" Elizabeth asked the doctor.

"The alcohol is a sanitation medicine, it kills any germs that can be harmful and it allows imperfections to show in the dead cells on the skin. The swab, which is this little thing here," she said holding the cotton swab up, "gathers the dead cells together by pressing against the skin and picking up the traces of foreign objects that lay across the skin. I.E dead skin, blood, plant spores. Anything that can't be seen by the naked eye is gathered in it. The microscope, which is this thing here, allows one to see those things that cannot be normally seen," she explained to them, "Here, take a look," she said as she placed the swab she had used on Diane under the lens.

The shrunk giantess placed her eye to the lens and immediately withdrew with a gasp, "Oh my, you mean to tell me that all of that is on my skin, eww." she said in disgust.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad, but then again something like this must be unheard of even for you guys," Tsunade said.

"Yeah, because our doctors rely on **Incantation Orbs** and basic medicines and herbs to heal us. They don't really care for the small things, especially those things," Diane said pointing to the microscope.

"Well, I'm gonna need to swab a lot of your skin to get a proper sample of those shrink spores. From both of you, just to make sure the effects are roughly the same," she stated to the two women.

* * *

_**~Downstairs~**_

Mito sighed as she ate some of Ban's cooking. She hated to admit it, but the man's food put even Ichiraku's to shame, and that was saying something as Ichiraku's was heaven itself, "So, Mito was it?" the silver-haired man asked and got a nod, "Why are the lot of you so desperate to find Escanor? What's the real reason you're looking for the strongest knight in Britannia besides your lost brother?" he asked her. He had never really pried into their business, but call him curious. Ever since Howzer appeared and said those things it had been bugging him.

Mito shrugged her shoulders, "Even I don't know why we're looking for him. I was only told we had to find Escanor to find out where Naruto might be," she said.

Ban nodded his head, "I guess the higher-ups are always shrouded in mystery," he muttered.

"Yea, politics are always like that," the blonde teenager said. She then looked at Ban with a curious glint in her eyes, "So, how did the sins first hear of my brother anyways? Your captain mentioned when we first met that he had heard of him, but Howzer, that Holy Knight that snuck up on us to speak with you, mentioned that the Sins were disbanded for roughly a decade before we arrived," she pointed out.

"And you would do well to remember that," Ban told Mito seriously, "The Seven Deadly Sins is the strongest order of Holy Knights for a reason, but before we were even a group, we were all just lost souls waiting to find a purpose in life," he told Mito as Satsuki sat down next to her as he placed a plate down in front of her.

"Really, like each of you was just wandering around with nothing better to do?" the Uchiha heiress asked him and the immortal nodded.

"Yep, lost, alone, and thirsty for some attention," Ban told her with a chuckle, "Now before I get into how we have heard of your brother, let me explain a bit about Escanor so you can better understand our greatest fighter," he told them as he flipped some meat on the grill, "Escanor was once a prince of a distant land, a part of a kingdom called Castellio, and this was before he discovered his magic and all the other things that make him who he is today," Ban said as he tossed some seasonings over the meat.

"He's a prince?!" Mito said in shock, she was not expecting that.

"Holy shit! He must be one hell of a prince," Satsuki muttered.

"Hold on, I wasn't finished yet," Ban started smacking the spoon down on the Uchiha heiress' head for interrupting him, "Anyways, while he may have been royal, he had a desire to be a knight rather than rule the kingdom, and so his brother took over and ruled Castellio. Well, while Escanor was over here in Britannia learning to become a knight, a war broke out in Castellio. Bandits had attacked the kingdom and had overrun the state. Escanor pleaded with the king of Liones to send him back as soon as possible so he could try to save his family, but unfortunately, he had asked a bit late on his request," Ban told the two girls.

"That's so sad," Satsuki said as Ban nodded his head.

"Yeah, it is, but that's not the worst of it. See, Escanor's home would come under attack by a large horde of Barbarians, tens of thousands of them all at once. Well, as many barbarians there were, the kingdom had several thousand knights that could fight the hordes off easily. But they didn't take into account that these weren't the average barbarians," Ban said as he rolled some vegetables onto the burner and sprinkled a hint of salt over them.

"I thought that there was only one kind of Barbarian horde though, I didn't expect for there to be different types of barbarian hordes," Elizabeth said in shock as Diane sat down beside the ninja.

"Oh yeah, you better believe there is. And it just so happened that this particular horde worshipped the Demon Clan, and they were very… devoted, I guess you could say, to the worshipping of the demon clan," Ban told her.

"So, if this horde wasn't able to wipe out the kingdom, I'm gonna have to go out onto a limb and say that they did something that was both an advantage and a curse," Hitomi said in wonder as Ban nodded and flipped the cooking meat.

"Oh yeah, that the idiots did. Barbarians aren't known for their smarts cuz in all honesty they're a bunch of freaking morons that can't even say their own names right half the time. However, the fact that this horde was devoted to the demon clan allowed them certain things that most other hordes weren't able to get on their own. And it just so happened, that this horde, in particular, summoned a powerful ally to help them destroy the kingdom," he told the girls.

"No…," Mito said in shock.

"Yes, and don't interrupt me when I'm about to tell you what happened," he said smacking her on the top of her head with a spoon.

"Itai!" the blonde yelped before she rubbed the sore spot.

"But yes, the simplified version of the story is this, the barbarians summoned a demon. It was said to be gold in color and was able to stand roughly 20 feet in height. The barbarians were the first to fall to this creature, all wiped out in a single night by this demon, and then the knights fell soon after it had claimed the lives of the horde." Ban stated.

"So, where does Escanor fit into this tale?" Satsuki asked the immortal.

"His family had been rushed to the castle to protect them. Escanor's mother decided to lead a battalion of the remaining knights into battle, but none of those knights ever returned alive. They were torn apart limb from limb so the beast could feast on its victim's flesh. Escanor's elder brother, the first in line for the throne, decided to lead another battalion to try and beat the demon, only for the process to repeat itself," Ban explained heavily.

"Damn, that's bad," Tenten winced.

"If you think that's bad, then wait till you hear this," Ban said as he cleared his throat, "As Escanor went to lead another battalion out to battle, his father stopped him. He was the last royal heir and as such he was considered the next in line for the throne when his brother died. His father decided to take his place, but this time he succeeded in beating the demon, but not only at the cost of his own life but the rest of the holy knight's he led into battle. Escanor found his father, weak and dying, and barely had time to say goodbye before his father, King Micheal, died in his arms. It was here that a second horde of Barbarians decided to set up shop in the fallen kingdom, but what they weren't expecting was an infuriated Escanor to be waiting for them," he sighed heavily.

"What happened? I can assume he fought them or fled from them seeing as he is still here," Kushina stated.

"He fought them," Ban told her seriously, "From what Escanor said, he fought for four days and five nights against 50,000 barbarians, and on the dawn of the fifth day, he was practically disemboweled and had to hold his organs inside with one hand, and he was on the verge of collapse. He was so caught up in the fighting, adrenaline, rage, and bloodlust, that when help from Liones arrived, he didn't even recognize the sigil of Liones painted onto the flags and charged head into battle even with them. He beat the ever-living shit out of 10,000 Holy Knights in the blink of an eye, an entire battalion of Holy Knights that were considered to be the strongest of the strong, and it was here that Hendrickson and Dreyfus finally managed to calm him down, though they did take one hell of a beating from Escanor at the time," he told the women.

Mito felt herself gulp heavily in fear. Escanor, she decided, was the one person she would not ever face in combat to the death. Kushina tapped on the bar, "Ok, and while I concede to the fact he knows how to fight, how the hell did he not die of blood loss or other injuries?" she asked.

"His power, **Sunshine, **has the ability to help him recover when he's injured to an extent. But it's not perfect, even for such a scenario where he was fighting for his life. However, we have a special type of bead over here that heals you once it cracks over a person's body. Escanor, however, seared his stomach shut after shoving his intestines back inside so that he could keep fighting, but that only got him so far even for patchwork. His stomach reopened sometime during the battle and this had allowed them to fall out again, so he just simply held them in his hand and swung his spear, like a man possessed, from what we were told," Ban told the girls.

"T-Then how is he still alive?" Hana asked in shock.

"The only one that has the answer to that question, is Escanor himself. But he keeps a tight set of lips whenever the topic is brought up. It's one of three things that piss him off, and trust me when I say, that is the last thing you wanna do, especially with a man like Escanor," Ban said as he piled the food onto plates and set it down in front of them before sticking forks onto the plates, "Bon appetit ladies," he said before he walked off.

Anko hummed in thought, "Hey, how come some of what this Escanor guy did sounds familiar, like someone from our home has done it before?" she asked.

Shizune answered her, "It was the third Raikage that did something similar for his friends and allies when he died in the 3rd Great Ninja World War," she told the snake mistress getting an "Ah," from Anko as she snapped her fingers in realization.

"Third Raikage, the hell is that?" Hawk asked in confusion.

"Not a what, but a who, Hawk-chan. The Sandaime Raikage, or Third Raikage as we say back home, was a man that was so powerful many considered him unbeatable. He was blessed with not only immense power but immense durability as well. Any attack that could have damaged him wouldn't have reached him fast enough to deal with any lasting damage. He was quite a warrior," Tsunade said in admiration for the old lightning wielder. Rumor said he died at 67 but he went down like a true ninja should have, taking as many of his enemies with him as possible.

"This guy sounds like he'd make one hell of a fighting partner," Ban said smirking, "So, how'd he die?" he asked as he leaned over the counter.

Kurenai cleared her throat, "It's said that to let his people escape, he used himself as a decoy and faced 10,000 of the enemy alone. Supposedly he lasted 3 days and 3 nights to buy his comrades enough time. It's also said he took every last one of them down with him before he succumbed to his wounds. At the age of 67 he was labeled not only the wisest for his time, but the strongest, and with good reason," she clarified for the Fox Sin.

"He sounds like he'd be as big a monster as this Escanor person," Hawk squeaked out.

"Yeah well, from what we're told, Hendrickson was said to have had nightmares of Escanor charging at him with his intestines falling out his body, covered in blood with a look of rage, nearing insanity if the description is to be believed, while his sheer willpower is just so great he was unwilling to give in to exhaustion. It's known as an Indomitable Will," King told the ladies.

"And while he could certainly last as long as you said, there's no way he would try and spend all that time fighting, Besides, wouldn't it be much easier to just wipe them all out, he's shown he has the power to do so," Mito said.

King sighed, "You humans don't understand anything do you?" he asked them, "He was fighting 50,000 enemies, it wouldn't be that simple. If this 3rd Raikage faced 10,000 ninjas of high enough rank before he succumbed to his death, then it is almost the same for Escanor. Even for barbarians who are more brawn than brains they still have a much higher advantage due to their numbers alone, so Escanor would just have that much more of a hard time trying to control himself," he stated.

"Ok, and while we concede to that, it doesn't explain how he is still alive, why not just stop when he saw Hendrickson and Dreyfus?" Mikoto asked the Fairy King.

"Ok, let me paint it in a simpleton's fashion," he stated, "First off, **Sunshine** would be focused on fueling his rage, and not only that, he's so caught up in his bloodlust, he can't see straight due to multiple bodily repercussions; IE; Exhaustion from multiple nights of sleeplessness, multiple injuries that would kill ordinary knights, and the sheer amount of grief he would have felt from losing his entire home due to the pointless battle. And why attack the knights? He probably thought they were reinforcements for the enemy," King said to them.

Before the discussion could go any deeper, the door was almost literally ripped off its hinges as a hulking frame burst through the door, "Ah, shit, sorry bout that," Escanor's voice filtered into the ears of the shocked group as he moved out of the way for Margaret to rush in where he placed the door back and closed it. Walking away the man cringed as the door fell to the ground, "Uh… sorry," he said.

"Still the big clutz as always," Ban smirked.

Meliodas looked to the ginger-haired man, "Really, my door?" he asked him.

"Sorry about that, I'll fix it when I can," Escanor said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh yea, you'll fix it alright," Meliodas said poking his hand towards Escanor.

"So, when'd you grow a mini-stache?" Ban asked him.

Escanor chuckled, "I thought it'd give me some class," he said to his fellow sin.

"Class, since when did that matter?" King asked Escanor in confusion.

"I-I wanted to impress Miss Merlin," Escanor said with red cheeks, not noticing how Margaret narrowed her eyes in jealousy at hearing her name.

"Bro, she's never gonna love you if you don't just tell her," Ban said to the man.

"I can't impose on her-WAIT! That's not why I'm here," he said taking them off that train of thought.

"Well, what is it? I suppose it would have to be important if you came rushing in here hard enough to break my door down," Meliodas said.

"There's gonna be a contingent of Holy Knights here tomorrow to kill us," Escanor said.

"What, a contingent, but why would there be one of those?" Diane asked in confusion.

"Dreyfus has sent them here. Originally they were gonna be for me, but upon finding out about all of you arriving here, he sent two battalions of Holy Knights to rid of us," Escanor said.

"Damn, it's serious," Ban muttered.

"Ban, you're immortal, it doesn't apply to you. We, however, are mortal," King said.

"So, what are we gonna do? I mean, we can't just fight that many knights and hope to win. This isn't like ten years ago when we were framed." King said with a sigh.

"F-Framed?" Elizabeth asked them.

"For the death of Grand Holy Knight Zaratras," Meliodas said quickly.

"Who the hell is that supposed to be?" Mikoto asked in confusion.

"He's Little Gil's dad if you wanna know the truth," Meliodas smiled.

"W-Wait, that was why the Sins were considered criminals?" Elizabeth asked in shock.

"Ok, but why would you guys be framed for the murder of this Holy Knight? Something fishy is happening," Kushina stated.

Escanor shrugged, "Not even we Sins know why we were framed. We had gotten a message to meet with Sir Zaratras, but the second we met up with one another to meet nothing seemed to have happened and everyone was speaking normally. When we reached his chamber of work, we saw his body speared multiple times to a wall and his corpse simply hanging in place. That was when the knights of the kingdom arrived and tried to kill us. We did what was right and defended ourselves and fled the area on the Captain's orders. Since then we remained in hiding. Until now that is," he told the redhead.

"Before we delve into anything else, I wanna know one thing from you," Mito said walking up to him, "Where is my brother, where is Naruto Nii-Chan at?" she demanded from Escanor.

"I apologize young lady, but I will not tell. I swore an oath of secrecy and I will not break my vow of silence to reveal his location to you," Escanor told her.

"Please, we just need a general location of where you last saw him. Not the exact location, but the last place you saw him. When we have that we'll leave you and your comrades to clean your mess up. I just wanna bring him home," Mito pleaded with him.

"No, and I stand by my vow," he told her before looking to his leader, "Captain, I have summoned Griamore-kun, Howzer-kun, and Veronica-sama to the tavern to explain the situation as they have more intel for us," he told him, "Until they arrive I request a spot to refresh myself," he told Meliodas.

"Yeah, there's a bathroom just up the stairs and to the right after the second door," Meliodas told the man.

"Thanks. And it's nice to see all of you again after so long my comrades," he said pleasantly before going upstairs to clean himself.

However, before he disappeared, he heard Meliodas exclaim, "And don't break that door either!"

The sins chuckled when they heard Escanor grumbling about midget blondes and not understanding accidents, before Margaret looked to the short blonde tavern owner, "Ok, where is she?" she demanded.

"Where's who?" Meliodas asked her.

"My sister, Elizabeth. The princess that decided to run after you and has been rumored to have joined your bar," the lavender haired beauty stated seriously.

"U-Uh, well that's a bit of a difficult one to try and explain," King said nervously.

"If she has a single hair out of place, you will regret it. Take me to her, now," she commanded the knight.

"Hey, I don't care if you are some princess, you don't just order people around like that," Mito said hotly to her.

"And I can go to the knights posted here and reveal just exactly where the sins are and their accomplices and have each of you arrested for conspiring against my kingdom with renowned criminals. So try and stop me from checking on my baby sister, I dare you," Margaret challenged the blonde. And with that, she began to look around for Ellie to see if she was safe from harm.

* * *

_**~Upstairs~**_

Escanor sighed as the hot water soaked into his scarred flesh. Littering his body, numerous wounds and gouges covered his muscles. The most prominent scar was one that ran vertically up his stomach. Other small scars were noticeable as well, each looking like a chunk of flesh was carved out of his body. Dipping his hands into the water he brought them out and ran them over his face, splashing the hot water over himself before he ran his wet hands through his hair and dispersing some water through his locks.

The man sighed as he leaned back in the bathing water, the cloudy soap hiding anything improper to ensure nobody saw what they shouldn't see.

However, his thoughts weren't on relaxing in the hot bathing water he immersed himself in. No, it was on the group of mercenaries downstairs.

They had found him, and he could only keep the charade of being a different human up for so long. His only thought, was for how long?

He closed his eyes and laid his head back, only for the door to slowly open up causing him to look up and see Hawk walk in, "Oh, hey, Ban asked me to deliver these towels up for you since he forgot to do so earlier." the pig told him.

"Talking pig, that's a first," he muttered to himself before nodding his head, "I thank you, sir pig," he told Hawk.

"Finally, the recognition I deserve as Captain of the Order of Scraps Disposal. You know, I think I may like you most out of these schmucks of your pals," the pig said, getting Escanor to chuckle before leaving the towels and Escanor alone to himself.

* * *

_**~ Back Downstairs~**_

Margaret was shocked, "Poor Ellie, what did these people do to you?" she asked her baby sister.

"Oh, this was mostly my fault. I was helping Lady Diane look for food and we encountered a rare monster that shrank the both of us," she told the older woman.

"A monster?" Margaret asked her where Elizabeth nodded her head, "Well, as long as you're unharmed I'm glad," she told Elizabeth.

Suddenly the door opened and the shocking sight of two more Holy Knights and Veronica herself entered, "Alright, we're here," Howzer cheered, "Time to get drunk!" he exclaimed happily.

"Howzer, that's not what we're here for so get it together," Griamore sighed out to him. Seriously, he enters a bar and the first thing he does is holler about getting drunk.

He needed better friends.

Soon Escanor came walking down the steps in a fresh uniform and his glasses in place while he finished placing his tie around his neck, "I see they came, how nice," he said calmly, "Princess Margaret, Princess Veronica, Princess Elizabeth, please come join us," he said gesturing to a table.

"I've told him to simply call me Margaret but he insists on still calling me 'princess'," Margaret sighed out.

"Ok, so now that everyone is here, can you please explain to me just why we were told that it was a trap this year? Please," Ban sighed out.

"Dreyfus has gone mad with power, and while he has a following, they only number in the hundreds rather than the thousands that the King has under him. We can't stop him at this point and it's only going to get worse from here," Howzer said ignoring the jab in his ribs from Griamore

He was the son of Dreyfus, can't blame him for sticking up for his old man now, can you?

Clearing her throat, Veronica managed to gain their attention, "While not entirely private to all of the shenanigans that Dreyfus is doing, we have spoken to a source that has figured out your identity Escanor-san. The plan was to originally send a small contingent of troops to subdue and possibly kill you. However, it has since changed due to the revelation of your comrades back at Baste Dungeon. Hendrickson has been hiding you for a couple of years, but he is unable to any longer. We had been told the location of your home so we could bring the Divine Axe Rhitta straight to you in case of the fight turning into too much for you. Other than that, we're as much in the dark as you," she told him honestly.

Escanor nodded his head, "I thank you. It is much faster than having to call it from its resting point so far away and makes it easier to use when close to me," he said to himself.

"So, what are we gonna do about these Knights under Dreyfus?" Griamore asked.

"Yea, you never really spoke of what would happen," Tsunade said to her.

"We didn't have a plan. We were told to ensure Escanor survived," Howzer said.

"I have the answer, and it's a simple one," Escanor said to them, "We fight, win, and then move on. After that we find the other sins and then clear our names," he told them.

* * *

_**~The Next Day~**_

Day two of the fight festival was about to get underway, and many people were excited.

Love Helm was grinning broadly as the crowd gathered whilst the fighters walked up onto the large fighting area.

Escanor, Meliodas, Diane, Howzer, Mito, Kushina all gathered and were prepared. Love-Helm smiled as he walked up to each of them, "For today's matches, we will be doing this in a similar fashion as to what we did yesterday, but seeing as there are roughly half of our original numbers now, we can do away with the hidden doors and be done with the farce of hiding all the fights. I have taken the liberty of taking the names from the slips of paper you provided yesterday and have mixed them up here. Draw a piece of paper, but don't worry, if you draw your own name, you can hold that paper and draw properly. Just be sure to put it back when you make your choice. But be warned, there are no redos for when you decide so choose wisely," he told them as he stepped in front of Escanor, "Naruto, you hold the championship, so I will allow you to draw names first," he told him.

Naruto hummed as he reached in and moved the names around a bit before he stopped to grab one. Pulling it out he opened it and showed it to the judge, "Here is my opponent," he said.

"First match, Naruto Uzumaki versus Kushina!"

With this announcement, the crowd went wild in excitement. Naruto was unbeatable, and this lady had fought amazingly so it was sure to be a show.

"Lady Matrona, seeing as you won your fight against Griamore-san, I shall allow you to draw next," he told Diane as she reached inside next and drew a name before showing it to him, "Our next fight will be, Matrona versus Howzer!" he called out as more cheers rose from the crowd. Walking up to Meliodas he held up the hat, "Your up, little guy," he said happily. Meliodas felt a vein throb in his forehead before he took a deep breath and reached in and drew a name.

"I have drawn myself," he sighed.

"Well, it doesn't matter like I said, drawing your name doesn't count so, draw another name," Love-Helm instructed him where the blonde then handed it to him, "And your fight shall be up against Naruto Uzumaki! This means that Naruto shall fight twice to determine the finals as Mito shall be fighting the winner in the fight between Matrona and Howzer!" he called out as the crowd cheered loudly.

Veronica looked to the shrunken Elizabeth in her hand, "Don't get too excited Ellie, it's just a fight. I'm sure Meli-san will be fine," she told her.

"I-I'll try, big sister," the silver-haired beauty said smiling.

"And with that out of the way, let the tournament _begin_!" Love-Helm cheered out, "All competitors not fighting, please exit stage right!" he instructed them as the group with the exception being Escanor and Kushina, "You may start whenever you are ready!" he told them.

Kushina didn't hesitate to leap at Escanor and kick him in the chest with a chakra enhanced heel with fire chakra that would send a twelve-ton boulder flying off into the horizon. However, much to her shock, Escanor not only tanked her kick like it was nothing, and this was saying something as the air behind her opponent was displaced hard enough to set the air itself on fire.

"I expected more out of you," Escanor said calmly as he watched her leap back with a simple smile, "Tell me, can you keep going?" he asked her calmly as a small wave of heat seemed to wash over the area.

Kushina smirked, "Of course I can, I'm just getting started," she told him as she pulled out a scroll and with a small pulse of chakra, a sword popped out, "Say hello to Hyperion, the sword of the sun, this should do nicely against your fire," she grinned out at him.

"Oh, a fire sword, this should prove interesting," he said mildly intrigued.

"It'll do more than that!" Kushina yelled as she charged at him with the sword catching aflame. However, when Escanor began to move his arm around, she came to a halt, "What are you planning to do with that hand?" she demanded.

"Come at me as hard as you can. Otherwise, this match will mean nothing to me," he told Kushina calmly.

Kushina grinned, "Don't blame me if you lose an arm!" she called out to him.

"It'll take more than that much flame and steel to cut me I assure you. Set your mind at ease madam," he told her.

Mito gulped nervously, "What does he mean by 'That much flame and steel'? It's a searing hot katana that can sever entire limbs in a single blow. That sword has even cut through steel, I've seen it happen," she said in both wonder and shock.

"You'll see. Just make sure you keep an eye on that lower jaw of yours," Ban smirked at the blonde.

Kushina meanwhile felt a trickle of sweat run down her cheek. Something told her that her opponent wasn't lying when he said that. Regardless, she ran forward, "I warned you!" she yelled as she struck, only to meet the flesh of her enemy much to her shock. I-Impossible, how could his skin be that strong to withstand her blade?

It wasn't just Kushina either, many civilians and even the other ninja were in shock by the sight. How did he manage to avoid injury from a _**flaming sword?!**_

The sins and the Holy Knights only smirked at Escanor. He was toying with her.

"So you have a sword that never fails to kill," he said in observation while he continued to smile and adjusted his form a bit to look at the redhead beneath him, "But what happens if it fails to do so? Do you have any other moves?" he asked her calmly.

However, what he did next was utterly horrifying. He seemingly turned his hand around to grip the blade before he released a powerful pulse that shattered the sword to pieces and hurled Kushina back a bit as the metal scraps landed around her with the sound of metal falling to the ground along with tiny clusters of metal hitting stone at her feet.

Mito felt herself gulp, "N-No way, that sword was enhanced with durability seals and senjutsu seals to empower it, and he just shattered it like it was a glass plate," she said in shock.

"He blocked that sword with one hand and then shattered it almost effortlessly, he's a monster alright," Howzer said grinning, though he did have sweat run down his face as he watched his mentor fight an enemy.

Kushina looked to the shattered blade in her hand, "No way. Not even my cousin could extinguish this sword, and he has Rinnegan eyes," she whispered in shock.

Escanor shook his head, "I see your will has been broken. I think the match has been decided," he sighed out and began to turn.

However what he didn't expect was Kushina to yell out at him, "Not bad, that was nice, but don't count me out yet!" causing him to turn and face her again as she leapt at him, her hands and feet covered in chakra, "Don't think that just because you shattered my sword means I'm out of the fight!"

Escanor calmly raised an arm and ate the blow that came from her foot, a powerful explosion of energy being released through the seals she engraved onto her body last night that would allow her to mimic these knights. She had decided to try and imitate the Explosion Corps of Iwa, so she had made up seals last night that would hopefully give her an edge in the battle against Escanor, though it was a shame to say that each of them only had a few uses in them before the seal deteriorated and faded.

The fire engulfed Escanor and shook the platform everyone stood on causing them to wobble around from the impact. Meliodas felt impressed, "She sure does pack a punch. I'm shocked," he said.

"Now that's a hit!" King said covering his face due to the winds kicked up.

Kushina was grinning at Escanor, and once more charged at him, throwing some punches and a few more kicks, but nothing really made him move except his blocks to stop her hits, "What's the matter, scared to hit a girl?" she asked him as she charged a large amount of chakra into her seal that was placed on the bottom of her foot where a natural chakra point rested, "I'd move out of the way unless you wanna die!" she told him as she raced at him.

Her foot glowed gold with chakra being charged up into the seal, but when it impacted against Escanor's body, the explosion sent out a shockwave that engulfed the area in smoke briefly after the arena shook once more. When the smoke died down everyone could see Escanor standing in place, the only damage done was to his shirt which had a burn around the area that had been hit by Kushina.

Kushina felt her eyes widen in shock, "What?!" she exclaimed in shock.

"Why are you even here?" he asked her, "That was disappointing, even for me," he stated seriously.

"I'm looking for my son, and you hold the answer to that question," she told him.

"You have a long way to go," he told her.

"Well, if I beat you then that won't be an issue, now will it," Kushina grinned at him.

"I see, well look no further," he told her.

This confused her, "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"As I said, look no further," he told her as he raised a foot into the air before stamping it down which released a pulse of sorts before something unseen impacted against her where the power of the blow could be seen coming out her back. Kushina coughed up a gob of blood. That hit was stronger than it looked. The redhead landed in a roll before she fell off the arena, thus making Escanor the winner.

"J-Just one hit to her, and she's already beaten… no way," Kurenai gulped in nervousness. He was incredibly durable, and he was still able to dish out such a devastating blow against one of the strongest women in the Elemental Nations with such devastating ease. This guy wasn't human.

"Holy crap! Did you guys see that!? He didn't even touch her and he still won the fight!" Anko cried out in awe.

"Yea… we saw it." Mito gulped nervously.

"And the winner by ring out is, Naruto Uzumaki!" Love-Helm called out as the crowd cheered and clapped for him, "Next up, it's Matrona versus Howzer of Liones!" he announced as Escanor walked down the stairs.

Nodding to Howzer he let him pass and joined the group he had joined last night, if only for a time until he could go back to his bar and live in solitude.

Watching his student fight was humorous in itself. Then again it has been a decade so he was proud to see him progress so well. He only shook his head when he got flustered over some skin. Seriously, had he not visited a brothel before he was a knight, the ladies loved the knights. He had more tail on him when he wasn't a criminal than he could remember and more often than not he turned them down so he could get to where he was going. He would give Howzer this though, the boy had an impressive ability to create cyclones with but a punch of a fist. Though, Escanor only shook his head when Howzer looked so shocked, as Diane stopped his hand from hitting her using the palm of her hand.

Of course, this wasn't without a slap, but Howzer seemed in need of it. In the end, Howzer lost the fight, but he had indeed put up a fight of his own. He only felt sorry for his apprentice's gut from when Diane briefly used her **Heavy Metal **to fall to the ground and land on Howzer. But all in all, he did decently. He had already come up with a set of things for the kid to do to improve himself.

Once again, Howzer felt a shiver run up his spine, '_There's that feeling again,' _he thought to himself as he looked over to Escanor, only to pale when he saw a familiar shadowed look on his face. It was the same look he remembers Escanor having when he was having to correct and then come up with brutal training for himself, Griamore, and Gilthunder.

"And the winner is, Matrona!" Love-Hem declared loudly.

Griamore had hopped up and laughed at Howzer, "You got knocked the fuck out!" he laughed at Howzer.

"I'm glad my misery brings you joy, jackass, now help me up," Howzer told the muscular man.

Helping Howzer get down, the Holy Knight looked to Veronica and laughed, "I think I did pretty good, even if it was one of them," Howzer laughed at his loss.

"You should have gone all out from the start, yet you lost because you held back. I get the feeling that you only did it cuz she was a girl," Griamore sighed at his friend.

"N-No I didn't," Howzer blushed.

"Dude, you so totally did, didn't you?!" Griamore laughed out at the blonde.

"Shut up Griamore!" Howzer yelled.

"Now, we'll be taking a break from the fighting so that we can get the stage fixed, so all you go and enjoy the festival while we get this repaired for the next fight, Meliodafu versus Naruto!" Love-Helm declared loudly as the crowd shouted happily.

The crowds began to disperse while the sins, kunoichi, and Holy knights all gathered together.

"So, since we now have to wait for the stage to get fixed, what should we do now?" Diane asked as she was hoping to get back to fighting soon.

"Well, since we already know about the Holy Knights' plans to attack us, it's only a matter of when, but, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the festival," Escanor replied since he hadn't had a chance to enjoy the festival as he had been busy selling his wines and alcohol before heading straight to the fights.

"Well, I guess we can all simply relax and enjoy ourselves until the fights continue later, but don't forget to keep your guards up. We never know when the Holy Knights will decide to launch their attack," Meliodas said, getting everyone to nod in agreement.

Margaret and Diane swiftly wrapped their arms around and arm of Escanor's before he also felt someone sitting on his shoulder, which turned out to be Veronica.

Blinking, Escanor asked, "Umm, what are you three doing?"

"Well, since we need to be careful, we thought it'd be better if we went with you," Margaret said with a mischievous smile.

"I'm not that bad. If anyone needs to be looked after, I think you need to go with the Captain rather than me. At least I'm good at hiding in plain sight," he told them as he pointed to the blonde in question.

"While that's true, you also tend to have your moments where you can't help yourself," Veronica said as she lightly swung her legs, enjoying the view from Escanor's shoulder.

"Such as?" Escanor asked.

"Really? What about that time when I was ten, you set the entire forest outside the castle on fire trying to spell my name? We weren't even able to reclaim it as good forestry and had to convert it all into farmland, though I will say you made the soil quite fertile," Veronica said smiling.

"It was one time, and I was 17, lay off woman!" Escanor exclaimed in embarrassment.

"Oh yea, well, what about the day my father turned 46? You released your Sacred Treasure and created that lake down by the gate, Lake Penance I believe?" Margaret smiled at him.

"I was drunk!"

"Uh-huh, and was this before or after the Captain flashed you Merlin's tits?" Diane laughed out at Escanor.

"I will not dignify that with an answer."

"You say that now, but we know the truth," Diane smiled brightly.

With that, the group began to laugh as they had fun messing with Escanor before they all separated, though Veronica continued to sit on his broad shoulders.

It would be a few hours, but eventually, the call was sent out for everyone to come back to witness the fights. With that announcement, Naruto once again returned to the platform, "I am looking forward to this fight, Captain. Do entertain me," he told the short blonde as he stood across the arena from him.

Meliodas laughed, "Just make sure there is something left of me when we're done alright?" he asked the man.

Needless to say, Meliodas was not looking forward to getting his ass kicked.

"I cannot promise you that, for this is a fight between gods today," he told the shorty standing in front of him calmly.

"Alright, as stated before yesterday, all forms of magic are permitted, weapons are forbidden, and the only way to win is by knockout, ring out, or all other forms of defeat with the exception being death. Let the next match, BEGIN!" Love-Helm called out.

And with that, Meliodas shot off in a flash and appeared behind Escanor, only to cough up spit as he held his gut, "You nasty fighter, why'd you go and do that for?" he asked his comrade.

"Don't think that this is like when we first met, I have greater control over my magic than back then," Escanor said as he closed his eyes and leaned out of the way as Meliodas tried to kick him. However, a pulse of energy cracked the arena once again, only this time the amount of force was enough to tear a large chunk off the wall of the platform where it crashed down to the ground below.

"What are you trying to do, kill me?" Meliodas asked, pointing to the smoke filling the air.

"That wasn't even close enough to hurt you, Captain. Try something else, I want to test myself as much as possible here," Escanor grinned, "And I'm not talking about your food either," he pointed out.

Meliodas leapt at Escanor, only to be swatted away with the flat of the man's bare hand. Escanor then raised his hand into the air and gripped it into a fist, and with a yell, he gathered his magic and slammed it down into the ground with such force that the entire platform cracked into four sections, cratered the fighting area, and toppling the Gideon Hammer from its place of rest at the same time.

"Geez, he has to be as strong as Baa-chan!" Mito exclaimed as she covered her eyes from the fierce winds howling past her ears.

"He did all that damage with just a single blow of his hand, dammit this guy doesn't play around does he?" Mikoto grunted out.

When the shaking and the blast died down, it was a shock to the watching people, for barely an inch away from the impact spot of Escanor's fist was Meliodas's head. Meliodas gulped, "I thought you said you'd refrain from trying to kill me?" he asked his friend.

"Strange, I don't think we agreed on that," Escanor hummed as Meliodas rolled out the way as Escanor raised a foot up and then slammed it down where Meliodas once laid, releasing a powerful blast of pressurized heat that struck Meliodas, only for it to have hardly any effect, "Oh ho, not bad Captain," he told him.

"Man, it's times like this I'm glad to have **Counter Cancel **in my arsenal of abilities," Meliodas gulped. Escanor really wasn't playing around here, sheesh.

Escanor raised his fist into the air as it became engulfed in flames before he swung at Meliodas. Meliodas saw what looked like a sun and knew that this strike would be dangerous to his health.

Meliodas quickly leapt into the air, "Damn that was close," he muttered as he watched Escanor hit the ground precisely where he stood and it cratered even further into the ground. With that he went on the offensive and struck his comrade causing him to stumble back, as he appeared behind Escanor, he suddenly felt his face being grabbed, "And he's as fast as ever," he grunted as he was lifted twelve feet into the air, only to grunt in pain as Escanor smashed him onto the ground further cratering the ground.

As Escanor released Meliodas, he clenched his fist once again and proceeded to throw it, but once more Meliodas rolled out the way as the fist struck with frightening force. Meliodas once more appeared behind Escanor, he fist cocked back and as Escanor turned to face him, a seemingly dark mark appeared above his eye just as his fist connected to Escanor's own which caused the ground to bend down under the force, "Oh~ it seems like you finally take me seriously, Captain," Escanor said before he grinned broadly, "NOW SHOW ME MORE!" he bellowed out as he called upon more of his massive strength.

With that, the two began such a brutal fight it was more intense than that which he shared with Ban the day before. The shockwaves that the two released with each collision was so great that none could gaze at them, the force of hits that when they missed diminished the fighting spot more and more with each passing second. Blow after blow, strike after strike the two monsters brutally fought with all they had in them. The two would more often than not smash their fists together with frightening power, crumbling away the arena bit by bit. Hell, at one point they were simply walking around in a circle trading swift blows trying not to fall off before they had to leap away from each other.

With two grunts the Dragon Sin of Wrath and the all-powerful Lion Sin of Pride removed themselves from their opponent's strike area and roughly stood on an eight by twelve foot space that was roughly a quarter of the original space to fight on.

The two then charged, ready to continue fighting, but they suddenly stopped, confusing everyone as they sensed something coming from the distance. This was shared by the other sins and the kunoichi as they all moved over to stand together. All of a sudden, the entire area became filled with an intense heat as they heard someone clear their throat and looked to see it was the one known as Naruto who had stepped forward.

"Hello everyone, I would like to say something now if you don't mind," he spoke.

Everyone was muttering about what was going on when they froze at what he said next, "My real name, is Escanor Pride, and I'm one of the Seven Deadly Sins, the Lion Sin of Pride and I would like it very much if you would all leave."

Everyone was shocked, but before they could do anything, suddenly, everyone saw as a large number of fireballs started heading towards the town, causing panic when a few of them hit and exploded, not injuring anyone, but destroying a lot of homes. However, right before the rest of the fireballs could hit the more populated areas, all of them stopped before disappearing as if they were being absorbed.

Everyone watched as the fireballs formed together above Escanor's hand, causing an intense amount of heat, before he threw it at the mountain, causing it to explode and rip a hole in the mountain. At this, everyone began to run away, heading for safety as they now realized that the infamous group known as the Seven Deadly Sins were in their very town.

"Why'd you do that!? I thought we were supposed to remain inconspicuous!" Hawk exclaimed as he ran over with mini Elizabeth on his back, as she had been placed there when everyone moved together.

Escanor looked down at Hawk, who was now more at his waist due to him shrinking minutely since he was still wearing his glasses, but also because it was now mid-afternoon, so while he still had plenty of power, he wasn't going to be able to use his full might any time soon, but he was by no means a pushover.

Another explosion ripped through the air, Escanor opted to ignore them as he looked to the ninja, "I suggest you call upon your allies, we shall need all the help here we can get. Be fast though, cause I doubt we can hold them off for long with how they are moving," he told them before looking to Diane, "Diane, I would hurry to Gideon, do whatever you have to do to ensure we do not lose that weapon," he told her where she nodded and ran off the edge of the arena.

"Ok, well what about Rhitta? I don't think it's gonna vanish anytime soon, but I wouldn't leave it lying around for these guys to take away," Margaret said to him.

"PFFFT HAHAHAHAHA!" the sins laughed, some holding their bellies due to the harness of their laughter.

"Carry it away, oh my god that's a good one!" Ban laughed out.

"Like they'll be able to move that thing HAHAHA!" Meliodas laughed.

"Hehehe, I'd like to see that happen, I'll even let them melt it down and keep the gold from it!" Escanor chuckled as he held his hips with his hands.

"It's not that funny!" Margaret yelled at the three men.

"You don't know how funny it was!" King said before he busted his gut once again.

Already tears were forming in the four men's eyes from the sheer absurdity of their laughter.

Margaret felt her eye twitch in annoyance. Weren't they supposed to be doing something like, oh say FIGHTING ROGUE HOLY KNIGHTS?!

Escanor then cleared his throat again, though he had to hold back a laugh, as he said, "Anyway, we don't need to worry about Rhitta because even if they are proper Holy Knights with high enough magic and power, they wouldn't be able to lift Rhitta as there are only three people capable of moving her with ease, two of which are here amongst us."

"Well, we need to make sure nothing happens to Margaret, Veronica, or Elizabeth, especially since Elizabeth is in no position to run away without assistance due to how small she currently is," King said, finally calming down.

"Good idea! King, go with Diane to make sure nothing happens while she's retrieving Gideon. Hawk, you and Escanor take Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret to the Tavern. Make sure you aren't seen," Meliodas told them, "Ban, try to help evacuate the civilians. Avoid all contact with the Holy Knights here and make sure that you remain hidden at all times. I'm going to stay behind to try and draw their attention from you," he ordered.

"Let's go!" the men shouted as they took off to do as they were assigned. Hawk began to gallop away with Elizabeth on his back with Margaret and Escanor following behind him as Escanor held Margaret in his arms to make sure nothing happened.

As the four of them were running, they passed Rhitta, getting Escanor to look at it briefly, remembering how his life had gone so far, before he looked forward and continued to run with Hawk. As they ran, they heard explosions in the distance, but they knew their goal was to simply get Hawk, Elizabeth, and Margaret to safety.

* * *

_**~Meanwhile, Meliodas~**_

After everyone left, Meliodas decided that if he was gonna play bait, then he might as well have a drink while he waits for someone to come. So, here he was, standing in the middle of the destroyed stage, with his broken sword in hand and a beer mug in the other while he chugged down some alcohol. Suddenly, he heard footsteps walking towards him, so he put down his mug and saw that it was Guila who was approaching him while wearing a full-body suit of armor as she held a lance.

Eventually, Guila stopped a small distance away from Meliodas, "It's been a while, Meliodas," she said in her normal sweet voice, though Meliodas could easily tell that she wasn't trying to be nice as he could sense the killing intent that was flowing from her.

"Hey Guila, what brings you here today?" Meliodas nonchalantly asked while he raised his free hand, not at all worried.

"That sword you carry actually. Give it to me," she demanded.

Meliodas lost all the friendly look he had on his face, "You'll have to kill me in order for me to give this up, and I won't go down without a fight that won't end without you dead at my feet," he told her.

"I'm glad to arrange that for you," Guila said smiling as she held up the discarded Goddess Amber that Veronica tossed aside. Speaking a series of enchantments, Meliodas felt his eyes widen before he was sucked away and into the crystal, and the green sword fell to the ground with a clatter, "Not even the mighty captain of the Seven Deadly Sins can stand against such a powerful Holy Artifact, how intriguing. You must have been a truly desolate being if you couldn't budge away from it," she muttered as she picked up the broken sword, "But regardless, my mission is complete," she said to herself.

She wondered how Jericho was doing against the other sins?

* * *

_**~With Ban~**_

After he separated from the group, Ban simply wanted to take it easy, since there were hardly any civilians left. So he simply decided to stroll around town while looking for anything that caught his interest.

However, he suddenly had to dodge a rock that came flying at his head, drawing his attention to it. This, however, left him wide open for someone to appear in front of him, with a sword poised to strike his chest. They suddenly pierced his chest, but the speed it was done at was so great, that it caused Ban and his attacker to shoot backwards until they slammed into a building, causing the sword to go deeper into his chest while he spits up blood.

Ban looked down to see a woman wearing a set of slightly erotic pink armor as it had an opening in the chest piece to show off her mid-C cup breasts that were being hugged nicely within a black lace bra and then a metal skirt with a crimson cape that wrapped under the back half of her metal skirt, showing that she wore a set of black garter belts and matching black lace panties. Finally, she had shoulder-length lavender, almost silver hair.

But the strange thing about her were the pure blackish-purple eyes she had that seemed to lack emotion.

"Now this is how all festivals should be celebrated!" Ban laughed out before he looked at her in confusion, "Wait, hold on a second, do I know you?" he asked.

"My name is Jericho, and I've been looking forward to finding you again, Ban of the Seven Deadly Sins. As for you knowing me? Would it help if I said I was the Holy Knight Apprentice that you humiliated back in Baste Prison?" The now revealed Jericho said, as she moved the sword further into Ban's chest.

Ban, ignoring the sword and the blood he was coughing up, suddenly had a look of realization, "Oh yeah, you're that barber boy from back then! I didn't know you were into cross-dressing!"

This caused a tick mark to appear on Jericho's forehead and she clicked her teeth before removing her sword from Ban's body and began to attack at an incredible speed as she shouted, "**Godspeed Ten Flashes!"**

With that, Ban found himself covered in wounds, but the strange thing was, they weren't healing!

Jericho walked over to him before stomping on his body, causing a splash of blood, with a drop landing at the corner of her lips. She could only smirk now, "With this, I can feel like a true woman," She then used her thumb to smear the drop of blood across her lips, acting like lipstick, before she said, "And maybe even gain Escanor's attention."

Hearing this, Ban couldn't help but groan, both from the pain and Jericho, as he had one final thought before losing consciousness, '_That damn Escanor and his subconscious playboy self!'_

With that, Ban lost consciousness while Jericho seemed to be temporarily lost in her fantasies that consisted of her and Escanor in an X-rated setting that caused a blush on her cheeks.

* * *

_**~With Diane and King~**_

As the two rushed over to where Gideon should have been, Diane and King were shocked to find that Gideon was gone!

"Wha-! What happened to Gideon!?" King exclaimed in shock.

How does something the size of the damn rock that they were fighting on simply vanish into thin air?!

Was it an invisibility spell, no it couldn't be, but where did it go?

Suddenly, they heard groaning and looked to see an elderly man who was injured and lying nearby. Diane ignored the fact her Sacred Treasure was missing and decided to fulfill her duty as a Holy Knight and rushed over to the elder laying on the ground, "Hold on, are you ok?" she asked him.

"I-I'm fine," he groaned out to her.

"Please don't move, we'll find some help for you," Diane told him. Looking around she couldn't see anyone that could possibly help, even King wasn't able to help the old man without potentially becoming a bigger target for the people of the town.

"Diane, the Serpent Sin of Envy, and King, the Bear Sin of Sloth, by order of King Bartra of Liones you are hereby ordered to surrender yourselves immediately for punishment fit for your crimes against the kingdom. Stand down immediately," Marmas spoke in a sneer towards the two.

King held a hand up to the man to try and make sure nothing escalated past talking, "Listen, we need to help this old man, he's been injured. He needs immediate treatment. Please allow me to heal him," he pleaded to the knight.

"You refuse his majesty's most generous offer of surrender, I must say justice will be very painful for you, and I shall take great joy in serving upon you." the knight said as he pulled a couple of rattles (what was he a baby?) out from behind his back and began to shake them furiously, "Fall to my glorious power, **Gravity x70!" **he called out as the ground began to crack and crater under the sins.

"Hey, Marmas, what the hell do you think you're doing!? There's a civilian over there! Stand down, stand down right now! That's an order!" Howzer ordered as he ran up to try and stop the violence.

"That is not possible. Our orders were to eliminate the Seven Deadly Sins, and I aim to do just that, stand in my way and I shall eliminate you too!" Marmas yelled out.

Diane grunted as the ground was pushed down even further. Without hesitation she grabbed the elderly man and threw him, "Howzer, catch him!" she cried out just as the ground collapsed underneath her and King.

Howzer caught the elderly man and set him down before looking at Marmas, "You disobeyed a direct order from a superior officer, I hope you are prepared to meet the hanging noose!" he bellowed out to Marmas angrily, "I specifically ordered you to stand down for the presence of an innocent civilian and you did not heed my words. Your punishment will not be a light one, death will probably be the best thing for you!" he roared out.

Marmas snorted, "As if anything like that will be judged upon my sense of justice, I will look forward to seeing this be proven wrong, sir," Marmas sneered at him.

However, as the two began walking away while arguing, they completely missed King flying out of the chasm. Along with a plume of smoke that popped out from the chasm, while a large, orange leotard was dropped while a person wearing a yellow raincoat walked into some bushes.(1)(2)(3)

* * *

_**~Back with Escanor, Hawk, and the princesses~**_

The group was still running through the town, trying to hurry to the Boar's Hat so that they could leave Margaret and Elizabeth where it was safe since Hawk's Mom would be able to swiftly leave and take them to safety if need be. That is if the giant pig hadn't died in the time he had been gone.

"Hurry! We need to get these two to safety already so that we can come back and help the others!" Escanor exclaimed to Hawk, his height getting shorter by the moment. He really needed to remove his glasses so he could get a faster speed.

As they were running, they suddenly saw Ban's unconscious body in their path, with his body covered in wounds that were healing at an extremely slow rate.

"Ban!" Escanor shouted as they swiftly moved over to check on the unconscious immortal.

Seeing that Ban was fine, simply unconscious, Escanor looked to Hawk, "Do you think you can take him too, or do you need me to carry him?"

"It's okay, just leave it to me! Sir Hawk, Captain of the order of Scraps Disposal!" Hawk exclaimed before he grabbed the back of Ban's jacket with his mouth and they continued running, with Ban being dragged due to Hawk's height. Though, none of them were worried about that, since he would be fine anyways.

As they began to exit the town and see the Boar's Hat within sight, they saw the kunoichi were making their way back to town.

"Escanor! Hawk! Margaret! Elizabeth! Are you all alright!?" Kushina asked as they made their way to each other.

"Yes, we're fine, but we need to get Margaret and Elizabeth inside the Boar's Hat. It's safe there thanks to some defensive runes that I placed earlier during the break for the stage to get fixed. Once these two are safe inside, I'll rejoin all of you on the frontlines," Escanor said, getting the kunoichi to nod, but before anyone could move, they suddenly heard metal footsteps.

"Escanor Pride, the most powerful man to have ever walked this land and world in 3000 years, I have finally located you." a masculine voice said stopping them.

Suddenly, before anyone could react, Escanor tossed Margaret at Kushina while everyone saw as a sword that was oozing a deep magenta pierced Escanor torso. Everyone was shocked to see this as they saw a man with green hair, facial hair, an eye patch, and then orange armor standing behind Escanor, holding the blade.

"I am Helbram, a Holy Knight under the direct employment of Sir Hendrickson and Sir Dreyfus. I am here to accept your unconditional surrender and, your severed head," Helbram told Escanor with a sinister look while the other saw Escanor fall forward.

"ESCANOR NO!" a cry rang through the air.

* * *

**And that is gonna be the wrap of this chapter.**

**So, I gotta be honest, I'm a very easily distracted person, but that's mainly due to me having ADD, and being a naturally very hyperactive person. Which is why I was able to get more out before COVID started. Because I was moving and doing stuff instead of staying at home.**

**Now, am I proud of being who I am? Yes, yes I am, but it does get annoying sometimes.**

**Another thing, I wanna thank Adventreader 221 for helping me so much with getting this chapter done, as I couldn't have done it without him.**

**Next, I will try to do better, I promise on that since I really wanna be able to focus on getting my chapters done.**

**Now, as for the chapter, I also wanna thank Adventreader221 for his help in creating the intro, it is very nice.**

**Also, I've removed Elizabeth from the harem, which, in case none of you remember, is in an earlier chapter, but that was the old harem, as I've managed to cut it down a bit. So here's the new harem:**

**[SEVEN DEADLY SINS WOMEN]**

**Merlin**

**Diane**

**Veronica Liones**

**Margaret Liones**

**Derieri**

**Guila**

**Ellatte**

**Jillian**

**Rajine**

**Jericho**

**Gelda**

**[NARUTO WOMEN]**

**Mito Uzumaki **

**Kushina Uzumaki **

**Mikoto Uchiha **

**Satsuki Uchiha **

**Hisui Hyuuga **

**Tsunade Senju **

**Kurotsuchi **

**Anko**

**Hana **

**Kaguya**

**There is the new harem, I have removed a couple from before, such as Elizabeth and a few others.**

**Now, other than that, I will note that I've also given Escanor an improved amount of control over Sunshine. As seen during his fights against the knight from Danofar and Kushina, and that there will be more to come in the future.**

**Now, that is everything. I'll start trying to write more, but due to my lack of being able to do anything nowadays, it's harder to focus, but as I said, I will do my best to write more.**

**See you all next time, and don't forget to favorite, follow, and review!**

**King is a fast-flying person, able to keep up with Ban running at full-speed, so it's easily presumed he could escape their sight when they aren't looking.**

**It wasn't shown, and never really explained, but don't you wonder how Diane managed to get dressed in her normal clothes when she fell in that gorge after she got her hammer or whichever took place first? I just made it a simplified solving and made it like this**

**Gowther is a master of disguise. He turned himself into a woman to try and comfort a boy, so his initial design is that of a green-haired youth with amber-colored eyes. He was there all.**


End file.
